You’re sitting in the front row of Diller Hall, waiting to go on stage. Announcements and presentations are being made, but all you can hear is the beating of your heart in your ears, and when your name is finally called, you’re filled with fear. When you’re up on stage, you take a deep breath, share your story, and suddenly everything doesn’t seem so bad.
This experience is what many seniors presenting their senior spotlights in Diller Hall go through. Hackley has a longstanding tradition of chapel talks, in which seniors present a personal and inspirational story to underclassmen in the chapel. However, 12th-grade dean and history teacher Melissa Stanek thought Diller Hall presented an opportunity for an even more powerful experience.
“What has happened organically over the year is that ninth, tenth, and senior classes have been able to be a part of chapel talks, but were jammed in the chapel, and that means the only grade that’s not seeing is the juniors,” said Ms. Stanek.
At first, seniors were hesitant to present in front of the entire upper school. However, once they saw their classmates present their stories on stage, they felt more comfortable opening up to the Hackley community. Senior Zion Benett was the first to go, paving the way for her classmates.
“I actually think Zion’s first senior spotlight gave people the confidence that this could be something that they could do,” said Ms. Stanek.
Students still have the choice to do a chapel talk instead of a senior spotlight. The difference between a senior spotlight and a chapel talk is very minimal; both require sharing a part of one’s identity, yet senior spotlights allow for more creativity. Senior Lily Adamski used an interaction with her friends as inspiration for her senior spotlight.
“I knew I wanted to do one, and I knew I wanted it to be funny,” said Lily. “I was at breakfast, and my friends and I were talking about eggs, and I was like, ‘I don’t trust eggs. They use powder in them.’ And my friend was like, ‘What the hell is a powdered egg?’”
Lily went on to talk about a rant she once delivered, during which she proclaimed powdered eggs to be a government conspiracy, then connected it to a very important and deeply personal message.
“The lesson that I wanted people to take away was that you belong. I feel like I found my community at Hackley, and I wanted to celebrate the authenticity that I feel I have here,” said Lily.
Senior Isaac Ahn, a talented singer and musician, decided on a more creative approach to his senior spotlight by singing L’ultima Canzone by Francesco Tosti.
“People know me as a student and as a classmate, but I just wanted to show the side of me that hasn’t really been shown before,” said Isaac.
Isaac’s senior spotlight demonstrated his deep appreciation for music, especially opera. He hoped that his performance would resonate with the audience by bringing more awareness to the art form.
“There are a lot of people who don’t exactly know what opera is,” said Isaac. “It is an art form that has struggled a little bit in the past years, but I wanted to show that there are still people who care about it and love it.”
Another senior spotlight featured senior Macey McLane. Macey is a science enthusiast and used her interest to her advantage. She focused her senior spotlight on research from her Independent Science Research Project (ISRP), but also used metaphors from her favorite childhood game, Hello Neighbor. She was also heavily inspired by her ISRP classmate, senior Sophie Huang.
“[Sophie] created that presentation using an assignment that we did in Independent Science Research, which is a three-minute thesis presentation. I was like, what if I turn my three-minute thesis into a presentation as well?” said Macey.
Once she had her idea, Macey was faced with the hard decision of presenting in front of everyone, including her teachers, or doing the traditional, more intimate chapel talk.
“The style of [chapel talks] was that they would talk about a personal problem that they encountered in their life,” said Macey. “I added personal elements, but it felt like a bigger, broader world problem.”
Many people find it hard to present in front of their entire school. However, for Macey, the anticipation was worse than the reality.
“I was more nervous in the time before, when they were doing all the other announcements. Honestly, presenting a Diller, it’s not that anxiety-inducing once you’re out there because you can’t see people’s individual faces,” said Macey.
Although Macey’s presentation was primarily about her research and Hello Neighbor, her overarching message resonated greatly with the senior class.
“You can almost feel like you’re stuck in a moment of waiting. Maybe you’re already in college, but you still have to finish school. It can feel scary or intimidating…it’s really important to make the most of the time we have left. Make the most of every day,” said Macey.