Student Profiles

As a freshman, Becca Nowiszewski had been out sick for a few days and found herself in need of help catching up in a couple of her classes. Fortunately, her biology teacher was one of her ice hockey coaches. Becca remembers that the week following her absence “during the entire ride back from an away game, Ms. King sat with me to go over past notes and other things I’d missed.” This support, she says, is typical of BB&N teachers.

Becca offers her time to help others, too. One of her greatest sources of pride at BB&N is that she is one of nine students to be selected from a group of applicants to be a peer counselor. The peer counselor program provides an opportunity for students to work with the school counselor to be a resource for fellow students. She says, “It’s a huge part of my identity here.” She likes to be the “go-to person” for her fellow students. It’s a way to give back to others the support she has been given.

Becca certainly has made her mark on the school in a number of ways. As a varsity soccer and softball player and a strong student, she feels comfortable with students of a variety of interests. She has made a point to have a “range of different kinds of friends.” And she says, “being involved in a range of activities makes it possible.” She chooses not to sit with the same people at lunch each day, and she knows she can’t be identified with any particular group. Becca believes this is culture at the Upper School. Most students here, she says, “are so friendly and will go out of their way to make new students feel welcome. Bivouac for ninth graders helps a lot, too.”

Becca arrived at BB&N in first grade and has enjoyed the three distinct campuses for the individual sense of community each offers. She says that though the school is larger, the smaller environments make it easier to “connect in.”

Becca has certainly achieved a great deal, most recently having worked her way up from the JV to varsity soccer team. She now knows she has the skills she needs to contribute to the higher team. Yet, her greatest sense of fulfillment is the connection she has made at BB&N with both teachers and fellow students. “Building relationships here,” she says with great modesty, “has been my greatest source of satisfaction.”