Journalism

Esme Sanders
She is an 11th grade student from Palos Verdes High School. Her primary academic interests are literature, poetry and journalism.

Esme is an editor for her school’s newspaper and has recently completed a novella. She is also a frequent poet. She has taken Honors English 1 and 2 and is currently enrolled in AP Language and Composition.

University Acceptance

★ Vassar College

Learning Objectives

Define the meaning of madness, both as a medical term and as a literary device.
Read four modern feminist novels that explore themes of madness.
Identify one novel that provides the strongest examination of whether madness is, in fact, the ultimate form of sanity for a woman.
Analyze and illustrate how madness is portrayed in Bunny. Leave open-ended questions for further analysis.

What challenges did she face?

Esme had to juggle multiple responsibilities, including AP courses, pre-college preparation, and managing the publication phases of her novel, leading to fatigue.
Esme had to narrow down a complex topic (madness in women) to create a focused and coherent paper within a limited timeframe.

Matched professor:

The mentor is a lecturer at the Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University. Prior to this, she was an Editor and Reporter for Contra Coasta Times where she designed and wrote for the Religion and Ethics segment weekly.

How did our program help her?

The mentorship program provided a foundation for her long-term interest in the topic, encouraging further exploration and academic growth in the liberal arts field.