Photos courtesy of Choate Rosemary Hall
From freshmen to postgraduates (PGs), each student on campus has a unique story to tell as to how they arrived at Choate and why they considered this the best place to further themselves academically and athletically. Postgraduates Ellen Arena ’17 and Walker Lott ’17 are no exception. Both were recruited to play at Choate, but their stories are unique in how they chose to don the Blue and Gold.
Arena is originally from Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, where she attended Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) before coming to Choate. At NMH, Arena was a tri-varsity athlete, competing in soccer, hockey, and lacrosse, while experiencing both boarding and day life as a faculty child. While most in her class at NMH were looking at colleges come senior year, Arena took a different path: looking at prep schools to take a postgrad year.
For her, the decision to take a PG year was a no-brainer. Arena tore her ACL during her junior year, forcing her to sit out that lacrosse season. “I’m going to play lacrosse in college, and in terms of getting recruited, junior year is the most important year, so my decision was based a lot on that,” Arena said. And for Arena, choosing Choate for a postgraduate year made all the sense in the world: “I chose Choate because it was the best transition school for me — it’s bigger than NMH, it’s far from home, and Alex Jarvis s’17 really made me love the school when I came on revisit day.” But just like any school, coming in as a PG can have its difficulties, especially when your main sport is not in the first term of school, like in Arena’s case. She said, “It was a little hard in terms of finding a group of people, but coming from boarding school helped a lot with the transition.” And while lacrosse is one of Arena’s main focuses here at school, she also wants to “grow as a person” from her experiences at Choate and “make connections” that will stay with her after she graduates this spring.
Another PG on campus this year, who many know from his astounding performances on the football field, is Walker Lott ’17. Lott has been a key player for the Blue and Gold on the gridiron this season. A native of Alabaster, Alabama, Lott previously attended a private high school, then transferred to Thompson High School for his senior year. Lott said. “It was great to meet new people and learn new things from them at Thompson. I also played football there and had a blast getting to know a new team, just like I am this year.”
In terms of why Walker chose to take a PG year, he said, “I was actually unaware that I could spend a year as a postgraduate student. But when I did tour Choate, I was impressed by the coaches, students and campus.” Choate was also convenient for Lott to attend because he plans to continue his football career down the road at Yale.
Regarding the classroom, Lott said that Choate is “a lot more rigorous” then his previous high schools. But he added, “I feel I have adapted well. The teachers are all extremely helpful, and they actively encourage me on a daily basis. I feel that they’re interested in me and my future.” Lott has also made impressions off of the football field, saying, “I have really enjoyed meeting new friends and all of the teachers that are at Choate. I found that everyone here was very welcoming towards me and incredibly friendly.” Walker and the rest of the football team will play in the New England Championship on Saturday, November 19 as Choate looks to go for the three-peat.
Being a post-graduate comes with a unique and challenging set of circumstances, but Arena and Lott seem to have integrated well into the Choate community.
