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News & Photos
Alumna Addresses Cum Laude Initiates at Annual Ceremony
McDonogh School’s Cum Laude Society welcomed 31 new members from the Classes of 2023 and 2024 during the 62nd annual induction ceremony on Tuesday, April 25 in the Ceres M. Horn Theatre. They joined 17 seniors who were inducted in 2022. The national honor society, which recognizes academic achievement grounded in character, honesty, and integrity, is modeled after the Phi Beta Kappa collegiate honor society.
The 15 initiates from the Class of 2023 are Remy Alperstein, Sophie Bredar, Connor Cashman, Jackson Dollenberg, Makayla Frazier, Aiden Fries, Bella Goltser, Kemka Ihemelandu. Codi Johnson, Sophia Koman, Tanush Parhi, Max Seol, Julia Velculescu, Alex Willen, and Sam Willen.
The 16 initiates from the Class of 2024 are Cate Arbaugh, Carly Green, Zarina Hamilton, Max Mislow, Danielle Nelson, Kelvin Niu, Katherine Pesetski, James Pitts, Javi Rodriguez, Jón Salenger, Camryn Sciubba, Ria Sood, Elliet Walton, Sophia Wang, Megan Winakur, and Matthew Yoon.
Addressing the initiates, their parents, and the Upper School community at the ceremony was Farah Qureshi '04, a social epidemiologist and Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. There, she leads a large research portfolio examining the impact of social inequality on the mental health and chronic disease risk of young people as they age.
Qureshi began her remarks by sharing what she called the “secret sauce” for success in life, admitting that her advice was likely counterintuitive. “Embrace failure,” she said. “Failure is not a bad word. It aligns our purpose and makes us who we are.”
She went on to explain that behind each of her successes were failures that made her better. Eventually, she learned the importance of using the knowledge gained through failure to succeed. “It’s part of the process,” she said. “Success is not possible without failure.”
Using her own career trajectory as an example, she admitted that she was denied admission to medical school a number of times before realizing that she didn’t want to treat illness but prevent it. She said this led her to the work about which she is passionate: identifying the positive resources young people need to thrive and developing social policy to help build those resources to advance health equity.
Qureshi concluded her remarks by encouraging her audience to take chances and reminding all students, “You don’t need to be at the top of your class to be a change agent. All you need to do is to take the time to figure out what values drive you.” She continued, “Take chances, explore something new even if you think it’s too hard to succeed at, because no matter what the outcome, you are going to learn a whole lot about yourself in the process.”
The Cum Laude Society, founded in 1906, recognizes the scholastic achievement of juniors and seniors in secondary schools. Chapters elect only students who have demonstrated good character, honor, and integrity in all aspects of their school life. While the founders of the society wanted to recognize outstanding scholarship at the high school level, they also underscored their belief that such scholarship needs to be grounded in integrity by thoughtfully choosing the words of the society’s motto. The motto of the Cum Laude Society is “Arete, Dike, Time — Excellence, Justice, Honor.”
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McDonogh School’s Cum Laude Society welcomed 31 new members from the Classes of 2023 and 2024 during the 62nd annual induction ceremony on Tuesday, April 25 in the Ceres M. Horn Theatre. They joined 17 seniors who were inducted in 2022. The national honor society, which recognizes academic achievement grounded in character, honesty, and integrity, is modeled after the Phi Beta Kappa collegiate honor society.
The 15 initiates from the Class of 2023 are Remy Alperstein, Sophie Bredar, Connor Cashman, Jackson Dollenberg, Makayla Frazier, Aiden Fries, Bella Goltser, Kemka Ihemelandu. Codi Johnson, Sophia Koman, Tanush Parhi, Max Seol, Julia Velculescu, Alex Willen, and Sam Willen.
The 16 initiates from the Class of 2024 are Cate Arbaugh, Carly Green, Zarina Hamilton, Max Mislow, Danielle Nelson, Kelvin Niu, Katherine Pesetski, James Pitts, Javi Rodriguez, Jón Salenger, Camryn Sciubba, Ria Sood, Elliet Walton, Sophia Wang, Megan Winakur, and Matthew Yoon.
Addressing the initiates, their parents, and the Upper School community at the ceremony was Farah Qureshi '04, a social epidemiologist and Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. There, she leads a large research portfolio examining the impact of social inequality on the mental health and chronic disease risk of young people as they age.
Qureshi began her remarks by sharing what she called the “secret sauce” for success in life, admitting that her advice was likely counterintuitive. “Embrace failure,” she said. “Failure is not a bad word. It aligns our purpose and makes us who we are.”
She went on to explain that behind each of her successes were failures that made her better. Eventually, she learned the importance of using the knowledge gained through failure to succeed. “It’s part of the process,” she said. “Success is not possible without failure.”
Using her own career trajectory as an example, she admitted that she was denied admission to medical school a number of times before realizing that she didn’t want to treat illness but prevent it. She said this led her to the work about which she is passionate: identifying the positive resources young people need to thrive and developing social policy to help build those resources to advance health equity.
Qureshi concluded her remarks by encouraging her audience to take chances and reminding all students, “You don’t need to be at the top of your class to be a change agent. All you need to do is to take the time to figure out what values drive you.” She continued, “Take chances, explore something new even if you think it’s too hard to succeed at, because no matter what the outcome, you are going to learn a whole lot about yourself in the process.”
The Cum Laude Society, founded in 1906, recognizes the scholastic achievement of juniors and seniors in secondary schools. Chapters elect only students who have demonstrated good character, honor, and integrity in all aspects of their school life. While the founders of the society wanted to recognize outstanding scholarship at the high school level, they also underscored their belief that such scholarship needs to be grounded in integrity by thoughtfully choosing the words of the society’s motto. The motto of the Cum Laude Society is “Arete, Dike, Time — Excellence, Justice, Honor.”