Pere Cabus Carrera ‘23
On Friday April 1, James Snyder ‘69, emeritus director of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, executive chairman of The Jerusalem Foundation, former deputy director of the Museum of Modern Art, and an emeritus member of the Mercersbrug’s Board of Regents, congratulated the twenty-eight students of the class of 2022 inducted into the Mercersburg Academy Cum Laude Society. Following the induction ceremony, Snyder, the inductees, and the faculty committee adjourned to celebrate over lunch. Snyder had spent the previous three days on campus visiting classes and meeting with student groups.
Founded in 1906, Cum Laude is a society that highlights the academic accomplishments and achievements made by each year’s graduating class. Members are elected by the Cum Laude selection committee, composed of Mercersburg faculty, some of whom are Cum Laude members themselves.
During his speech, Snyder shared his experience at Mercersburg Academy and spoke of the ways it empowered him, focusing on the foundational values of the Mercersburg community like mutual respect and independence. He left students with a few words of wisdom, “I want to say to you that you should figure out how to leave things better than you find them,” said Snyder. At the end of his speech, the new Cum Laude inductees were named, and congratulated for all their hard work and accomplishments.
Tommy Quick ‘22, a recent inductee to the society, reflected on his achievement. “I feel the Cum Laude award reflects how hard I have worked and how much I have improved,” said Quick. Another inductee, Joie Xiao ‘22, said, “I feel that all the work I have done in the past four years at Mercersburg is recognized.” Quick and Xiao also offered some advice for the new students who are seeking to joining the society. “I have spent a lot of time worrying and not living the moment, my biggest advice for students that want to be a part of Cum Laude is not to work excessively hard and instead to manage their time better,” said Quick. “If you work too hard it can negatively affect your performance; instead one should make the most of their time when working without forgetting to live the present,” Xiao continued, “Keep making sure you do your best in your classes. I know it may be difficult, but all your hard work will pay off in the end.”
The 2022 inductees to Cum Laude are: Carina Cole ‘22, Yue Cui ‘22, Charles Dicke ‘22, Michelle Feng ‘22, Madison Gillner ‘22 , Sarah Grady ‘22, Chih-Ying (Alison) Huang ‘22, Haocheng (Terrance) Ji ‘22, Moonsung (Roy) Kang ‘22, Kyle Kim ‘22, Aidan Kirkman ‘22, Haruto Kitagawa ‘22, Eric Liu ‘22, Julia Mills ‘22, Khoa Tran Nguyen ‘22, Linh Nguyen ‘22, Olufolake (Folake) Okunsanya ‘22, Amanda Peh ‘22, Thomas Quick ‘22, Avedis Reid ‘22, Ben Rihn ‘22, Emma Shuford ‘22, Madeline Stang ‘22, Matthew Tavarez ‘22, Nicole Treml ‘22, Amy Wu ‘22, Joie Xiao ‘22 and Zhizhong (John) Xu ‘22.