There are many great students that have passed through the halls of Harriton High School. Some were sports stars, leads in the musical, or geniuses at math. We decided to interview co-valedictorians from 2012: Leora Haber and Shaina Carroll. They are both juniors at different colleges. We asked both of them a few questions and here is how they feel Harriton shaped them and what they are doing now.

How well did Harriton prepare you for college?

Leora: I felt Harriton prepared me very well for college with respect to my ability to focus on academics and manage my time effectively.

Shaina: I think that Harriton did a terrific job of preparing me for college.

Was IB the right choice for you?

Leora: IB did end up being  the right choice for me, largely because my experience with SL chemistry really informed my decision to become a chemistry major.

Shaina: Yes. I definitely think that IB was the right choice for me. I actually went to BC for middle school and then decided to go to Harriton rather than LM for high school, even though most of my friends at the time were going to LM. And part of the reason that I chose to go to Harriton was for the IB program. At the time that I attended Harriton, the IB program was still pretty small. We only had about 40 people in our IB class and over the two years we got really close as a class. That was probably my favorite thing about IB. We had a really nice small community of people who were driven and interested in their studies and it made going to school really fun. I also think that IB prepared me really well for the types of things I would have to do in college–having to write long papers and do group projects. Even the IB exams, which we all complained about, were good preparation for final exams in college.

What extracurriculars did you participate in at Harriton?

Leora: At Harriton, I participated in Science Olympiad and Physics Olympics, played soccer, ran cross-country, wrote for the Banner, and was a member of the science club.

Shaina: When I was at Harriton, I did a variety of different activities. I played field hockey all four years at Harriton. I also did crew my freshman year. I was on the debate team starting my sophomore year, which was really fun and really helped me develop my public speaking skills. I was also a member of science club (which may or may not still exist).

Were there any specific teachers that greatly influenced you or impacted you at Harriton?

Leora:I think Mr. Gauvin inspired my continuing love of chemistry, and Mrs. Henry taught me how to analyze literature in a way I hadn’t really considered before taking her class. That knowledge really came in handy in my freshmen writing seminar in college!

Shaina: I think that the chemistry teachers at Harriton are one of the major reasons why I became a chemistry major in college. A lot of my friends in college had horrible chemistry teachers in high school and so when they came to college, they had already written off the field of chemistry. I had Ms. Erney and Mr. Gauvin for chemistry at Harriton, who were both terrific, and they are a lot of the reason why I like chemistry so much today.

What college do you attend?

Leora: Princeton University.

Shaina: Rice University

What is your major?

Leora: Chemistry

Shaina: Chemistry

What did you do during your last few summers?

Leora: Two summers ago, I worked in an organic chemistry lab up at Princeton. This past summer, I decided I wanted a change of pace, and I worked as a counsler at the summer camp I’d grown up attending. I learned so much both summers, and thoroughly enjoyed them!

Shaina: I have spent both of the last two summers doing research in Chemistry labs. The summer between my freshman and sophomore year, I worked in a lab at UPenn in the Chemistry department and the summer between my sophomore and junior year, I worked in a lab at Baylor College of Medicine (in Houston) in their pharmacology department.

What field would you like to go into/future plans?

Leora: Unknown

Shaina: I get asked this question a lot and the truth is that I don’t really know what I want to do in the future. After working in a variety of labs and doing research in several different areas of chemistry, I have decided that what I am most interested is biologically-focused chemistry. So for example, in my research right now, I am trying to develop dyes that can be used to measure the concentration of certain compounds inside cells.  Our goal is to make it easier for biologists to study those compounds. I think that I will probably end up going to grad school in either chemistry or biochemistry and then I think i might be interested in working at a pharmaceutical company. But I’m not really sure. I am TA-ing this semester for the first semester organic chemistry class and I have been enjoying teaching so that could also be an option.

Hopefully you enjoyed this inside interview with two past Harriton star students, turned successful college kids!