“I think Loomis has done a great job of helping me learn how to talk to people, whether it is adults or other students. Coming in, I was shy. Now I’ll talk to anyone.”
Norah Pond ’26

Small Changes Matter

From the age of 8, Norah Pond spent much of her summers at a camp in Maine. There was little contact with the outside world, but a lot of connection to nature.

“Every summer I looked forward to camp, so it is hard not to love the environment and not to want to protect nature after spending so much time in it,” Norah says. “I made some of my best friends and some of my favorite memories out in the woods of Maine.”

Norah graduated with a Global & Environmental Studies Certificate through a program that recognizes coursework, co-curricular engagement, and experiential learning. For her College-Level Literature and the Environment class, Norah wrote a paper on climate change, then delivered the paper in a Chapel Talk, where community members share personal stories. The talk centered on how “pessimism can be productive when it comes to climate change.”

“At first,” Norah says, “you need to be pessimistic and recognize the situation is not going to get better if nothing changes, then switch to a more optimistic view of doing something, even making the small change.

“I used to approach the climate crisis with an attitude of hopelessness and despair. Now, when someone brings up global warming or increased storms or any of the other issues that accompany climate change, I try to be more realistic: Yes, climate change is a massive issue, and yes, we can do something about it.”

When Norah was a freshman, her advisor noted that it was an understatement to say Norah was off to an awesome start. The same could be said of her finish. Norah, whose parents are faculty members Ed and Molly Pond, is one of only 18 members of the Boston College freshman class to be awarded the prestigious merit-based Gabelli Presidential Scholarship. As a junior at Loomis Chaffee she received a Founders Prize, and at Commencement she received the Florence E. Sellers Prize, a prize given to a member of the graduating class who exhibits a quest for excellence, self-discipline, and a concern for others.

Norah enjoys writing. “I always say it helps me make sense of the world,” she says. “We all have a lot of thoughts banging around in our heads, so it helps me slow down and process what is going on.”

The spoken word did not come as easily to her. “I think Loomis has done a great job of helping me learn how to talk to people, whether it is adults or other students. Coming in, I was shy. Now I’ll talk to anyone,” she says. And even give a Chapel Talk. 

Along the way she has learned many lessons. Coming into the school, she says she felt she had to be the best at everything, but she ran up against a tough course as a freshman — Algebra II Advanced. “I knew I wasn’t going to be the best at it, and that helped me grow much more than if I had just coasted through all my classes because that is not how life works,” Norah says. “So that was learning to bounce back, and I’m happy I learned how to do that here because there are so many people to pick you up and put you on your feet and let you know it’s OK.”
 

Quick Takes

College: Boston College

Clubs/Activities/Awards: Chaffee Leadership Institute, tour guide, peer mentor, four-year member of the varsity soccer team, Writing Studio consultant, Founders Prize, Florence E. Sellers Prize, cum laude, Global & Environmental Studies Certificate

If you could invite anyone to dinner, who would it be? Her grandma, even though she often is at the house for dinner anyway. “She is 94 and has lived in New England all her life. She worked at CIGNA during the rise of technology, and even though I know some, I’d like to hear more about living through all those changes.”

On her bucket list: A cross-country trip with her sister. Her dad has talked about a cross-country trip he took with his brother years ago. “My sister and I are close, so I think that would be an awesome thing to do. I think it is a feasible one, too.”

Hobbies: She enjoys pickleball, spike ball, biking with the family, and reading, “one of the more chill pastimes.”

If Loomis came with a set of instructions, what would they say? “Work hard. But also make sure you take time for yourself and the things you care about outside the classroom.”