“I am from the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia.

“I came to Northwood because of the chance to receive a world-class education and the opportunity to do activities unique to the school, such as LEAP. I enjoy using the many opportunities presented to me, like taking on a STEM research project and presenting it at a symposium, flying to Vietnam, or even sharing my home with my peers for LEAP and doing dance and musical performances.

“This year, I will start college as a freshman at Northwestern University. I am a prospective biology student and would like to go into medicine or research.

“Here at Northwood, I was fortunate to be a part of the crew team, row in a double scull with my sister, and be part of the Dance Sanctuary, which gave me an empowering environment and allowed me to pursue a longtime interest of mine.

“I enjoy doing karaoke and having dance parties with my friends on weekends. In the winter, we do a lot of ice skating on the oval, skiing, and sledding.”

As told to Ahmed Elganainy ’24. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

“I am from Lake Placid, NY. I moved from Los Angeles roughly four years ago. The atmosphere in Los Angeles is a lot different there than it is here in Lake Placid.

“I enjoy playing hockey, woodworking, fishing, and spending time outdoors.

“Not many people know that I rebuild outboard engines and reupholster boats to make a bit of cash.” 

As told to Cedric Lemaire ‘24. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.  

“I am from Syracuse, NY. I am a first-year senior here at Northwood. I heard about Northwood through a current member of the Prep Hockey team and hockey recruitment. After hearing more about it and connecting with the coaches, I thought it was a good fit for me and decided to start this new journey.

“After graduation, I plan to play Junior Hockey and then hopefully play Division 1 hockey. I hope to become a professional hockey player in the future, but if that does not happen, I would like to pursue a business career.

“In my free time here at Northwood, I normally just spend time with my friends, work in the gym, and play the guitar. When I’m at home, I pretty much do the same and spend time with friends and family. I also like to sing, which not many people know about, but I don’t like singing in public.

“I’ve had a great year here at Northwood and couldn’t be happier with my decision to come here, and I’m excited for what the future holds for me.”

As told to Aly El Mofty ’23. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

With the school year coming to a close, Northwood students are getting excited about summer. Northwood students have a variety of plans for summer this year.

Aidan Laskey ‘23 plans to work for his dad’s roofing company this summer. He is also going to see Luke Combs in July.	Trey Zeren ’25 is going on a cruise this summer to Bermuda and the Bahamas. After that, he plans to play hockey and work.
Caroline Purcell ‘24 is spending her summer working at the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery. She is also going to Seattle in July to visit family.	Wolfgang Lux ’25 plans on going to gym, doing luge, and hanging out with friends this summer. He will also work with his dad.
Nora Fitzsimmons ‘24 is going to spend her summer working at the Cottage in Lake Placid and touring colleges.	Cecilia Keller ’25 is going to Norway this summer, as well as lifeguarding. She also plans to see Pitbull in New Jersey.
Brian Brady ’24 is working at Origin Coffee this summer and interning with an environmental non-profit. He is also going to Rhode Island and hopes to travel more.	Jack Kroll ’25 is going to mow lawns before going to Norway to ski jump in August.
Pedro Gonzalo ’23 is going back home to Spain to hang with friends. He also plans to go to Italy to visit a Northwood alum and friend, Dado.	Sebastian La Roche ’23 is going to do an internship at a dentist’s office as well as skateboard and hang out with friends.

“I’m like 2 cm taller than George.

“There are benefits and disadvantages of having a twin. The thing I do is known to more people due to association if I do something and my brother does the same. If I do a good thing, many more people will know it; but if it’s a bad thing, then both he and I will be associated. Whenever I do bad things, he will also take the blame for them and vice versa. As far as benefits go, when I do something that I like, art, for instance, I always have someone to do it with me, and when I want to improve on said thing, I always have competition close to me to push myself to improve.

“My favorite piece of art that I have made might be this one (above). It’s a water drop from the sky. As you can see, I drew the background and a flipped reflection with a five-point perspective of the background on the drop. My inspiration behind it was reading a manga that had a concept about infinite megastructures (BLAME!!, by Tsutomu Nihei).

“My other contender for my favorite piece of art is this one (below). It took me around three days to complete. The work was me putting everything I knew on the canvas.

“I enjoy playing the flute, although mainly for fun. I’ve been playing for like six years, but the first two years, I didn’t play much. I was part of my middle school’s band program, which forced me to play an instrument, so I was just there doing the bare minimum. I got more serious coming into Year 10.

“I liked shrimp sushi, but I can’t eat it anymore. For some reason, I get a terrible stomach ache when I eat raw food. Now, my favorite food is probably pasta or a burger. I forgot about Vietnamese food, which is pretty good. I like all the classics: phở, bún, and bánh cuốn. I like bánh chưng rán as well.

“I have a birthmark on my right bicep—it looks like a bruise. It was bluish, but it has faded now. I can also play the flute better than George. I play Hanzo (from Overwatch). I want to be an animator in the future.”

As told to Hung Nguyen ’25. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge. Art by Tam Nguyen ’23.

“I’m like 2 cm shorter than Tam.

“Imagine your hands. You’re the right hand and your twin is the left. Suddenly, your left hand starts moving away from your right and becomes better than it. That’s how I feel about being a twin. On a serious note, having a twin means there is always a sense of competition; but at the same time, I always have someone to do things with me. Having a twin also means I always have someone to share my experiences and hardships with.

“My favorite piece of art is one of the more recent ones I made. It’s a digital piece. I think it was the best one in terms of what I wanted to achieve and the style I wanted. It is a scenery background with a lot of buildings with a character, a fishman, in the center. This piece took me about a week.

(Art: George Nguyen)

“I like gaming: Genshin [Impact], Overwatch, Apex [Legends], Elden Ring. I also watch a bunch of anime. My favorite anime is probably Steins; Gate. My favorite manga is probably Fullmetal Alchemist. I heard the animation [of Fullmetal Alchemist] is good as well, but I haven’t watched it yet.

“Generally, I think Asian dishes are better than European dishes. I remember this one time my brother and I ate a rare fish that my aunt bought from the black market. It tasted like pork. It didn’t have the smell of pork, but the skin especially tasted like pork skin.

“In the future, I’d like to be an animator, but graphic designer is fine as well.”

Every year, a new senior class is granted the opportunity to influence and guide the next generation through leadership roles and leading by example in the Northwood community. The ’23 class has taken this opportunity to the next level.

“This year, the senior class has made everyone more involved in the community,” observed Sachiel Ming ’24. “They have done a better job in promoting more diversified friendship groups. I have learnt a lot more about the hockey and ski teams this year, and it has been a great experience,” Ming added.

The class of 2023 is composed of countless leaders from all teams, and their leadership has positively shaped our community. It will truly be noticeable when they leave. Their Northwood experiences provide wisdom like no other, and help younger students strive for more, throughout their Northwood journey. Members of this senior class will be commencing their college life at top universities such as Northwestern, Columbia, and Yale.

Turner Jackson ’23 is a three-year senior who will attend Northwestern University next year. Turner is a role model at Northwood and has inspired many students to strive as he has done. His personality is renowned at Northwood, and he is known to be a kind man who will always be there to help. His advice to Northwood students is, “Enjoy the process. Take everything one step at a time. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and put yourself out there. You have so many opportunities, so make the most of them.”

Jackson also reflected on his journey and regretted not taking enough time to get to know everyone. He acknowledged that often, students cling to their sports groups and don’t venture out. He wishes he had spent more time with other remarkable individuals at school. Turner, an international student from Hong Kong who came to Northwood to reach his goal of attending a top university, has been at the school for three years and reflected on his time here, expressing, “My Northwood experience has been unique. Everyone will have their setbacks and successes. My experience has been nothing short of that. It has prepared me for the next stage of life.”

Another role model senior is Thebe Mosehathebe. Thebe is a four-year senior who will attend Hobart College next year to pursue his passion for soccer. Thebe has constantly worked to improve the culture at Northwood School and has mentored younger students. He believes the most impactful advice he could give is to, “Live in the moment. Enjoy every day and see it as another opportunity to learn something new. Speak to the hockey girls, go out to town with the skiers, laugh with hockey boys, and get to know the independents. There are so many different types of people who come from different backgrounds, and there’s a lot to learn from them,” Thebe said.

“Get to know the faculty as well,” Thebe added, including the cleaning staff, the administrative team, and the kitchen staff. There are a lot of great people at Northwood, and all it takes is opening up and being friendly to learn a thing or two.”

Thebe also reflected on how he could have used his time at Northwood differently, expressing, “I wish I had gotten to know more people earlier each year. In my experience, you get to know a lot of interesting and fun individuals only at the end of the year, which makes me wish I had known them much earlier.”

Northwood students often neglect the opportunity to socialize with people from all over the world, and the diversity of Northwood is something that makes the school special. Students should capitalize on this. Thebe began his hectic Northwood journey as a freshman and emotionally reflected on his time at Northwood, saying, “It has been an amazing journey. I have experienced tremendous personal growth over the years, and I believe I have become a more well-rounded individual. I have forged many enduring relationships and have endeavored to make a positive difference in the lives of others. I can only express my gratitude to Northwood for shaping me into the person I am today.”

Northwood extends its heartfelt appreciation to this year’s senior class for their resilience and leadership. Thebe and Turner are exemplary role models at Northwood who have truly impacted this school. Northwood encourages all students to depart knowing that they have influenced the Northwood community for the better. With not much time remaining until our seniors bid their final farewell to Northwood, seize this opportunity to learn as much as possible and heed the advice given by Turner and Thebe. We will deeply miss our seniors and wish them the very best of luck in all their future endeavors.

Georgia Bailey is a second-year senior at Northwood from Quebec, Canada. She is one of the assistant captains on the girls’ hockey team and has been pursuing the sport since age 6. Next year Georgia will be attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to continue her hockey career and go into their biology program in hopes of going into a field of medicine.

In her free time and over the summers, Georgia finds herself trying many different sports, such as swimming, volleyball, and hiking. She also has a deep passion for sweets and enjoys baking cookies and muffins. She is most passionate about spending outside with her family and friends.

As told to Maisie Crane ’23. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

This is my second year here at Northwood. I am from Hong Kong. I came to Northwood as a reclassed 11th grader to pursue my dream of playing college soccer. I had heard about Northwood from a few friends who had already joined from Hong Kong, and after speaking with them, I grew more interested in the project. I was attracted to joining Northwood because I knew I would play high-level and year-long soccer. I was also interested because of Northwood’s balance between academics and athletics.

In the future, I would like to play professional soccer. After I graduate, I will set my sights on playing Division 1 soccer at Yale University. I am excited to begin the next chapter of my life at such a great school and cannot wait to play in my first college soccer game. As I said previously, my overall goal is to go pro in soccer, but by going to Yale, the opportunities I will get are endless and could take me down a different path.

I spend most of my time training on the turf or in the gym, but beyond that, I enjoy sitting with my friends when we have some downtime, watching anime, playing FIFA, and starting my journey in the entrepreneur world. When I return home, I enjoy going out to eat with my friends, spending my days at the beach, and spending time with my family. I also enjoy DJ-ing; I picked it up last year and have fallen in love with it. I have even DJ-ed a couple of school events.

My favorite thing about Northwood is the diversity and how it has given me the platform to meet people from all over the world. I think Northwood is a great place to set a kid up for their future, and it has certainly done that for me. My two years here have been nothing short of incredible, and I hope to come back and visit soon.

As told to Aly El Mofty ’23. Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge.