CHANDLER — Graduation season is winding down and the Class of 2017 is concretely preparing for their next journey. For most, that means college.
Of the 123 students who graduated from Seton Catholic Preparatory, 70 percent have received at least one scholarship, totaling $11.2 million over four years to state, private and Ivy League colleges and universities. A partial list of out of state universities and colleges offering one or more scholarships to Seton graduates includes Boston College, Brown University, Cornell College, Creighton University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Gonzaga University, Marquette University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, University of Notre Dame and Yale University.
“We are immensely proud of yet another Seton graduating class poised to lead and to serve,” said Assistant Principal Dr. David Sorkin. “I was honored and privileged to take the stage among such talent and distinction on graduation night.”
Meet a few of the graduates:
Valedictorian Ben Leach will attend Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where he plans to study biomedical engineering. Beyond college graduation, Leach has his sights set on developing new prosthetics to help improve people’s lives. At Seton Catholic, Leach was involved in theater, playing the lead role of Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof” during his senior year. Also, he served as a Seton Ambassador and as an officer for the National Honor Society and National Junior Classical League chapters. Read his address to classmates.
Salutatorian Nicole Gehret (below) will attend Brown University in Providence, R.I., where she received a full-ride scholarship to the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME). The PLME combines undergraduate education and professional medical studies in a single eight-year program — the only combined baccalaureate-MD program in the Ivy League and a route of admission to the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown.
Gehret plans to study neuroscience and spend summers abroad to study alternative medicine and medical ethics, as well as Spanish to volunteer at the Clinica Esperanza in Providence. Following medical school, she plans to become a neurosurgeon. While at Seton, Gehret was selected and completed over 80 hours of service for the Dignity Health East Valley Summer Volunteen Program at Chandler Regional Medical Center.
Luke Bastain will attend MIT in Cambridge, Mass., on scholarship in the fall. Bastain plans to study civil or environmental engineering, pursuing a career in either of these fields. While at Seton, he competed at the varsity level all four years in cross country, track and soccer.
Bastain served as the captain of all three his senior year. He was president of the Spanish Honor Society and the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, as well as a Seton Ambassador and member of the National Honor Society. In addition, he was a top scorer on the school’s Academic Decathlon team, earning a personal fourth-place finish overall at nationals.
