Hannah Fabel
What is your first memory of Trinity?
I came as a ninth grader. I had been homeschooled my whole life. I needed to come to school for the social component. Between my mom and our homeschool co-op, I had a great education, but I was not well suited to learn on my own! It wasn’t a hard transition. I immediately hit it off with the other new ninth grader. Homework was the one thing I didn’t love. I had to work through my tendency to think of coursework as something to get through as efficiently as possible, especially in classes I didn’t already enjoy.
What do you think makes Trinity Academy unique?
The students like it here and love working. We might complain sometimes, but, overall, we aren’t just trying to “get through it.” We talk about what we learned in school when we’re outside of school. We don’t just ignore what we learned in class in our day to day life.
What classes have you particularly enjoyed? Why?
Humane Letters, because I gravitate toward literature and history. When I was younger, I'd spend hours in the basement reading Usborne history books just for fun. Any class became more enjoyable when I came to see teachers as people who care about us and love what they teach. Even when a teacher – say, in Humane Letters – gets mad at us, I’ve learned it’s because they care so much about our discussion and about the books. There isn’t an us-versus-them dynamic between teachers and students.
You’re absolutely right that it’s because I’m mad about the books. Which ones have been your favorites?
I’ve found the philosophy the most interesting over the last two years. Montaigne was my favorite from this year. He has a great sense of humor. Paradise Lost was also a top favorite. It was fun to see Satan presented as a Greek war hero. You had to think about why he was so tragic and likeable, despite being the villain.
What is one way you’ve grown at Trinity?
I’ve found it valuable to build friendships with people who are different from me. Here, we don’t just avoid people with different viewpoints; we see each other every day in the hallways. We can still be paired together in the classroom and enjoy each other’s company.
Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?
I love that Lernvergnügenstag is a surprise. My first year, I had no idea what was happening! It’s fun to see teachers taking a break from the daily routine and reviving our more basic interest in the world. Maybe the purpose of Lernvergnügenstag is to remind us that there’s more than the structure of class: we remember we enjoy learning for itself.
What is one class or subject you would not have taken on your own?
MATLAB or Advanced Topics in math. Without a natural interest, I have to cultivate the right kind of attention. During Spring Break, I spent over eight hours on the Markov model I had to make for Calculus. I had to problem solve for a long time until I finally saw the way the coding language translated the board game I was modeling.
What extracurriculars did you participate in? What have those experiences added to your life?
I’ve done tennis for three years and basketball for all of high school. I love basketball and my teammates. It’s helped create friendships for me in all grade levels. It’s a different kind of teamwork than in class; on the court, if someone makes a mistake, it really can wreck the game. You have to learn how to mesh well as a team, how to fix any conflicts, and how to move on for the sake of the goal.
What advice would you give to an incoming student (one very much like yourself) about how to get the most out of Trinity?
Don’t sacrifice your sleep schedule. I did at first, but then I learned that it had bigger costs elsewhere in my ability to learn at school. If I haven’t finished my work at ten, I go to bed, and then just wake up earlier to start my day.
What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?
I’m studying nursing at California Baptist in Riverside, California. My short term goal is nursing, maybe Labor & Delivery. Long term, I want to be a malpractice lawyer. I’ve been reading books about nurses and their work experiences as a kind of spiritual endeavor. They say the hospital can be a place where people feel close to God. I want to be a positive presence there.
