Junior Sandra Polanco Welcomes Accepted Freshmen

Junior Sandra Polanco ’20 welcomed newly accepted ninth grade students and their parents to MICDS recently and shared her thoughts on what it was like to come to the School as a freshman and what she has experienced since:

I am so pleased to be welcoming you this morning into the MICDS community. A community of resilience, a community that only embraces its members and encourages us to be our best every day, a community that you get to call your home. MICDS is an institution that fosters creativity and strives to make every one of you feel welcomed in an environment that will stop at nothing to help you thrive.

A day like this three years ago, I was sitting right where you are and before this moment I was looking at a new challenge called high school. Originally, my plan was to follow the crowd to my public high school, but my mom mentioned the idea of looking into an independent school, and from that moment I took the reins to my education. I visited the MICDS website and one thing led to another and then I was on campus for my shadowing. I fell in love with MICDS after that day because of the amazingly accepting community. I still remember the name of the student who took me around that day, and I am glad to say I still talk to her in the halls.

MICDS left me with such a powerful impact that I took such a huge risk—and I promise will not be doing this with college—but I only applied to MICDS because of how welcomed I felt. Luckily I was accepted. I’m going to be honest that just like any challenge, high school is not going to be a walk in the park. You will have your ups and downs and that’s okay! You have so much to do, so many paths to take and so many risks ahead of you.

And you always need to remember that you are selected to be here for a reason, understanding that you are special and have so much potential that MICDS saw and will continue to see in you.

As a student here at MICDS, I feel that every day I am closer to fulfilling my full potential as I have learned that there is always more to learn. I learned this in my freshman English class with Mr. Sadicario, an extraordinary teacher who made me realize that the MICDS community embraces each and every one of us in a way that changes us for the better. Our teachers extend their knowledge out to us in order for our curious minds to run free, and I can say confidently three years later that I continue to stay curious because of MICDS.

MICDS has allowed me to become the best version of myself, and I can say that choosing MICDS has been the best decision I’ve ever made. I can’t wait to see the amazing things you accomplish and the impact you leave on our amazing legacy.

Welcome, Class of 2023! Go Rams!