Reflecting on the group as a whole, Haugh shares that “I am
inspired by my friends’ ability to be true to themselves. It is so important to not let someone change who you are because ultimately, only you know what will make you happy at the end of the day.”
STUDENT GROUP: STEVEN COCKEY, ANDY SUN, NATHAN WILLIAMS
Sometimes in the course of an education, it takes a specific experience to bond students with one another. Tis is the case for Williams, Cockey, and Sun. Although Sun and Williams have known each other for over a decade and Williams previously shared classes with Cockey, the triumvirate didn’t gel until late in their senior year. Te Upper School Great Hall served as the setting for this
STUDENT GROUP: NATHAN CARPENTER, SYDNEY GARNER, HAILEY HARMS, RACHAEL HAUGH, MIKAELAH JOHNSON-GRIGGS, REGINA LOGAN Four Senior Awards. State soccer and tennis championships. League
lacrosse honors. Teater accolades. With this group of OES friends, it would be easy to focus on the recognition they’ve received from peers and elders alike. Yet these accomplished young people don’t get caught up in trophies, plaques, or certificates. For them, the top highlight of OES has simply been their friendships. “Our biggest and longest experience has been going to school together,” Haugh states. Te origins of this friend group stretch back to 2007, when
Haugh and Garner became best friends through athletics. As the years progressed, OES’s special three-division structure brought more voices into the mix. Logan came in sixth grade, while Harms, Carpenter, and Johnson-Griggs arrived as ninth graders in 2012. By the time their sophomore year rolled around, the six Upper Schoolers had all bonded, both individually and as a group. Haugh says one of the biggest lessons she and her friends have
learned from OES is to be involved as an active part of the school community. “Be involved and go outside your comfort zone,” she says. Looking at their joint track record it’s easy to see that each group member has lived out this maxim. Trough serving as student council members, forming the Black Student Union, or partnering with other students to shape the theater department’s direction, the individuals in this collective are leaving the school with a noticeable impact. As a whole they also understand what it means to be part of
a team. Haugh, Johnson-Griggs, and Logan were co-captains of the girls’ varsity soccer team for the 2015 season. Just this spring Harms and Garner played substantial roles in leading the girls’ varsity lacrosse team to its fifth straight Portland Interscholastic League championship. It’s no wonder that, as Logan shares, “Some of the things we do together outside of school include hiking, weight lifting, and working out.” And Carpenter? “Nathan has been a steady fan at all of the
sporting events,” offers Haugh. “And we have gone to almost all the plays he has been involved in. He’s a strong performer.”
28 Oregon Episcopal School
oes.edu “We have started to hang out a lot on the weekends and always
have a fantastic time together,” shares Cockey. Williams agrees. “I’ll always be grateful to Andy for pushing me to audition for that play, because it turned out to be one of my best experiences in high school.” Cockey expresses gratitude for OES and the ways it has helped
him grow: “I’ve learned to put myself out there more. It’s so common to be scared to step out of your comfort zone (especially in a new environment) but it is such an amazing feeling to find people who are similar to you and passionate about the same things. Putting yourself out there is the easiest way to make friends and find out what things you are truly passionate about and that make you the happiest.” Teir advice for the Class of 2017? “Don’t be afraid of change,”
offers Williams. Don’t be afraid to discover new relationships or leave unhealthy ones behind. Watching my friends discover what they are passionate about and exploring what that means to them has pushed me to discover what I’m passionate about as well.”
friend group’s formation, for it is where the one-act play Sun wrote and directed, Breaking Point, was conceived, rehearsed, and ultimately performed. Cockey and Williams played best friends in the theater piece, and before long, life began to imitate art. “Suddenly we started spending a lot of time around each other, and it was a lot of fun,” says Williams.
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