Catching up with the Honeybees

By Harper Davis ‘24

*My first day of school, ever. Photo by my mom.*

This last month is a conflicting time for many seniors. While the prospect of college is exciting, it is unfortunate that the lives we’ve grown so accustomed to will be inevitably uprooted.

I have attended Catlin Gabel School (CGS) for 14 years of my life. It is certainly unique that I have known most of my friends for longer than I haven’t known them. Seventeen people out of our graduating class of 73 students joined in preschool.

It was a simpler time, back when the tests were on handwriting and arguments were over tag. Forgive me for being overly nostalgic, but there really was some charm to those days.

It’s still hard to believe I’m finally about to graduate. I sat down with some of these seventeen friends and asked them a few questions about their lives. I hope you all enjoy.

Donnie Reuther

Senior Donnie Reuther was born in Vancouver, Washington, and is a long-time friend of mine. He has over a thousand books, which is technically considered a library. Reuther plans to attend either the University of Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh, or Rutgers New Brunswick’s Honors College next year.

In preschool, what did you want to be when you grew up?

“My whole life, I’ve wanted to be a doctor,” said Reuther, “I remember in preschool, I wanted to be a … baby doctor, because babies are fun. Then I found out that they have to stay up really late, because all babies are born at, like, two in the morning, and then I rapidly decided to not do that.”

What did you think high school would be like?

“I only remember the high schoolers were really old when we were in preschool. I guess, like, everyone thinks of high school as high school movies. High school is pretty much what I imagined, although I think that I imagined more contrived drama than there actually is.”

What has it been like growing up at CGS?

“I remember I had a very different group of friends in preschool than I do now. In preschool, I was best friends with Olivia Murray and Caden [Reedy] [a senior who no longer goes to CGS]. I tell people that now and they're like, that doesn't make any sense. Because Olivia is very cool, and I am very me.”

“I remember when we were really little, we used to go to the Eagle's Nest and dig around for fairy rocks and stuff,” said Reuther.

“I think that it’s really fun during preschool because you're in an environment that's really safe and they trust you a lot more than they probably should be trusting preschoolers. I feel like a lot of the activities we did as preschoolers were basically just learning how to be a person a little bit and then mostly just cute pictures for your parents to take home.”

Who is someone that inspires you?

“My mom is a really important person to me. She immigrated from the Philippines, and she's worked really hard to get to where she is now, and she always did really well in school and she did a whole bunch of activism. She's, like, really important to me, and not to say that my dad isn't. I love both of my parents. Both of my parents are doctors, so ever since I was little I wanted to be a doctor.”

Claire Druker

Senior Claire Druker was born right here in Portland, Oregon. She can rap the entirety of Ice Ice Baby, she plans to major in Criminal Justice and Psychology at Northeastern University and will spend her first semester in Dublin, Ireland.

In preschool, what did you want to be when you grew up?

“Either being like a singer superstar like Taylor Swift,” said senior Claire Druker, “or I wanted to be similar to my dad and go into medicine because I was always interested in helping people and I always was very impressed by my dad at a young age.”

What did you think high school would be like?

“I feel like when I was younger, big kids were always so scary walking around campus. So I thought I would grow into being a scary older kid, which I feel like I'm not really that. I feel like it's been pretty accurate to the amount of freedom [we] get, that's always been something I was looking forward to.”

What has it been like growing up at CGS?

“I feel like it's definitely weird to have known people looking back, because I'll have friends that haven't gone to Catlin show me baby photos of them with random people and then I'll show them baby photos with someone that still goes to this school. That's definitely weird to have known someone for so long.”

“A moment I cherish, I feel like St. George was something I was always looking forward to doing, and that was a big thing. It's also very nice to be a senior buddy now when I lived through having a senior buddy when I was in first grade. It was really weird going back into Lower School and like, the library looks so tiny!”

Who is someone that inspires you?

“I'd probably say my parents. Both of them went in different paths, but they have both found a way to have a good balance of being like a part of their work … but then always [making] it a priority to be like a part of the family. Which I feel is very inspiring, especially when I feel like people that get very intense jobs sometimes can lose sight of other things.”

Adrienne Tam

Senior Adrienne Tam was born in Tualatin, Oregon, and has broken nine different Oregon state swimming records. She intends to major in biology at The University of Chicago next year.

In preschool, what (who) did you want to be when you grew up?

“I think Nathan Adrian, he's an Olympic champion. Part of the reason why I connect with him is because his last name is Adrian and my first name is Adrienne. I was like, ‘that's so cool’, but also because Nathan Adrian is Asian and so I was like, ‘an Asian somewhere in the Olympics representing the U.S? That could be me someday!’ That's not my goal anymore, but that's who I would look up to.”

What did you think highschool would be like?

“I didn't really think about high school at the time because I was like four or five years old. I kind of took it one year at a time. I think it only started hitting me that like, in third grade or something, oh my gosh, two years later, I'll be in middle school, three years, then I’ll be in high school, four years, then I’ll be in college. I think for the most part, I was, you know, really, truly living the life of a child, not really having any obligations or thinking about the future, just staying in the present and enjoying playtime and being with friends.”

What has it been like growing up at CGS?

“I think, since we've been here since preschool, [we’ve] got to see how our whole class has developed and grown over fourteen years, which is 14 out of 18 years of my life, quite a lot … I've had the privilege of already being surrounded by all of these relationships and people for so long that I never had to get used to knowing a new environment, which is going to change in college because I'll be very new to the whole setting.”

“I definitely cherish growing up [for] 14 years here. People can think ‘oh my god, isn't it super repetitive, don't you want to go somewhere else?’ but no, because I've had good times here and good people to surround me. Catlin has made it a very special experience, and very different each year because even though [it’s a] very small class of like 70 people in our senior year, things are always changing and I appreciate that.”

Who is someone that inspires you?

“I always looked up to my sister because she was like eight years older than me and I think at the time, she was in seventh grade when I was a preschooler … I took all my own, like humor and my interests from her. She's in med school right now and that's currently the goal for me too, that's something I aspire to do.”

Ava Austria

Senior Ava Austria was also born here in Portland, Oregon. She can solve a Rubik’s cube in under a minute. She plans to attend Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota next year and play golf there as well.

In preschool, what did you want to be when you grew up?

“When I was in preschool, I probably wanted to be an astronaut. That's the only thing I remember. I think [for] most kids, that was kind of the dream. That has [definitely] changed since then, not my goal right now.”

What did you think highschool would be like?

“I remember being in preschool and thinking like the first graders were, like, huge. I can't imagine being that old, and so I probably thought that high schoolers were like full-blown adults. Like crazy big, tall people.”

“I remember watching the high schoolers play [basketball] when I was in middle school and thinking that's [an actual] basketball game. And now I'm playing, and I'm like, ‘Oh, no.’”

“I think the thing I most associated with being a senior in high school was having a senior buddy when we were in first grade … I remember each year thinking that we're so much closer to that milestone and now [we’re] here.”

What has it been like growing up at CGS?

“I've kept a lot of the same friends, which has been nice to be able to come back every year and hang out with the same people. [But it] also makes me excited to meet new people, but also know that I have had those friends forever.”

“I do a lot of things after school at Catlin, like I was on the mock trial team and I did sports so I think I got to spend a lot of time with other grade levels participating in things outside of Catlin, which were good experiences at Catlin. I think probably the best experience I had at Catlin was my global trip junior year when I went to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.”

Who is someone that inspires you?

“I think my classes are pretty inspiring to me. I've had some teachers that have shaped what I’m interested in and want to continue pursuing in college. I'd say my history classes that I've taken with Peter Shulman have definitely shaped my thinking and have contributed a significant portion to my learning critical thinking. Becky, in my chemistry class, has also made me really excited about science and chemistry.”

…

With graduation inching closer every day, it’s hard not to think of where we came from. Omitted from these Q&As are the conversations I had with each person before and after.

One thing we all agreed on is how valuable and emotional the first-grade buddy activities are. Many of us still remember our first grade buddies and so it’s bittersweet to finally complete that cycle.

I’m very glad I took this opportunity to share these precious memories in the hopes that others can feel a little nostalgic for a bit. To all the honeybees, and everyone else in our class: I’m glad to have grown up with you, and I look forward to seeing where everyone goes in the next stage of our lives.

Thank you.

Dedicated to: Lewis, Perrin, Ava, John, Claire, Rufus, Scooch, Amare, Adam, Nathan M., Olivia M., Naveen, Isabelle, Darby, Donnie, and Adrienne.

See Olivia’s article for some other fun class photos.