The class of 2018, 116 strong, is the largest class in Park Tudor School's 116-year history! They are notable for more than their size - they garnered the most scholarships, will attend the most diverse group of colleges and universities (64 in all) and included 11 National Merit Finalists - an impressive 10% of the class. One courageous and civic-minded senior will serve our country in the Army Rangers. An august group to be sure!
College choices span the country from Washington to Maine, California to Colorado, Texas to Tennessee and points in between and beyond our borders. One adventurous student will study in the Pacific Northwest at Seattle University. Two students will watch the sunset in the Sonoran Desert at University of Arizona. Sunny California calls four students - one who will join Oprah in seaside Santa Barbara at UC Santa Barbara, one will study business in Silicon Valley at Santa Clara University and two will call LA home at Chapman University. Three students will enjoy the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains while studying at University of Colorado - Boulder. Two students will two-step in Texas - at cross-town rivals Southern Methodist University and Texas Christian University.
In adjacent Illinois, one aspiring engineer lands in pastoral Urbana-Champaign at the University of Illinois, while five students will call Chicago home - one each at University of Chicago and DePaul University, while three will join Sister Jean's cheering section at Loyola University Chicago. Two students will become cross-state rivals at University of Michigan and Michigan State University. One student will "See Blue" at the University of Kentucky. Three students will reside in the shadow of the arch at Washington University in St. Louis. Idyllic Miami University of Ohio garnered two students and two more will cross the border into Ohio studying at Denison University and Kenyon College.
A creative writer will be inspired at Drexel University and a ham radio operator/budding engineer will signal home from Carnegie Mellon University. The Chesapeake and Potomac area, with its delicious crab and seafood offerings, is a popular destination. Two new schools include University of Maryland Baltimore County and Maryland Institute College of Arts (MICA), both attracting creative students, while an aspiring physician will join them at Johns Hopkins University. HBCU Howard University in our nation's capital attracted one student. Two classmates interested in history, government and international relations will keep their finger on the pulse of our government at Georgetown University, one of whom will spend next year on a State Department-sponsored Arabic Academic Year in Morocco.
The Northeast is also popular with this class. Massachusetts boasts the second largest number of graduates with two each attending: Boston College to study business; Massachusetts Institute of Technology for computer science; and Northeastern University for business and architecture; and one student with a heart for social justice at Brandeis University. Two students head to the Big Green - Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. A future space doctor and budding Broadway ingénue will pursue their passions at Princeton University. A talented track athlete is headed to Bates College in lovely Lewiston, Maine. Four students will take New York by storm - two will study computer science and international relations at Cornell University, while colleagues take in the Big Apple, people watching and studying computer science at Fordham University and business at New York University.
The siren call of the south captivated one student who will study business amid the spirited sports at Auburn University. Five students will feast on peaches and pecans in Georgia - two each in the Atlanta area at Georgia Tech and Emory Universities and one budding artist will call Savannah College of Art and Design home. North Carolina will host six students - a tennis player will attend Methodist University; a future physician will practice pre-med at Wake Forest University; another will study international relations at Elon University; North Carolina State's business and graphic design program attracted a student; and two will matriculate to Duke University to study medicine and sustainable agriculture. A talented softball player will catch at Bethany College in West Virginia. One budding entrepreneur will attend the number one international business program at University of South Carolina. A composer and musician will find the rhythm of Memphis at Rhodes College. Three students will delight in all Music City has to offer, attending Vanderbilt University.
Back home in Indiana, students will pursue a variety of academic interests from business, medicine, and law to computer science, engineering, and liberal arts. Two students will join the Fighting Irish at University of Notre Dame, nine students will study at Purdue University, eighteen students will inhabit Indiana University at Bloomington, two at DePauw University, two at Ball State University, three at Butler University, two at Wabash College, and one each at IU Kokomo, Indiana State University, Marian University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and Taylor University. One student will attend University of Southern Indiana's accelerated medicine program. One student intends to spend next year in culinary school where she will combine her ceramic artistry to create dinnerware to accompany her meals.
Finally, two students will study at international universities. One student will attend St. Louis University, Madrid while the other will follow in the footsteps of Prince William and Kate Middleton at University of St. Andrews. Please join me in congratulating this extraordinary group of young people on their continued success!
