By Astha Agarwal
Ask anyone to describe senior Rose Taylor and you’ll hear, “She’s smart. Really smart.”
But Taylor’s outstanding intellect has garnered respect among students and teachers alike for the way she chooses to use it: in the service of others.
Taylor won the class of 2013’s Phi Beta Kappa award, presented at graduation each year to the graduating senior with the highest GPA.
Taylor’s friends and teachers praised her extraordinary intellectual achievements and commitment to her academics, but also commended her generous personality and desire to apply her intellectual abilities to help others.
“Rose [spreads] her love and passion for academics to other people,” said Taylor’s guidance counselor, David Kershaw. “She can take a really difficult complex idea or subject, boil it down, and make it less stressful and overwhelming for someone who may not be as gifted as she is.”
“Rose was someone anybody could rely on to explain the concepts that eluded them,” AP Physics teacher Hema Roychowdhury said. “When students were sick and got behind, she would spend hours teaching them the material.”
Taylor’s friend, senior Alex Conrad, agreed.
“If you have a question, she’ll answer it,” Conrad said. “She’s not condescending, [and she] helps you find the answer without being obnoxious.”
“When Rose helps her peers, she [can] make suggestions and offer sincere praise,” English teacher Robyn Marder said. “She has a gift of making the receiver feel validated and understood.”
“I don’t know which characteristic [about Rose] I admire more,” Marder said. “[Her] kindness and ability to connect with others or her keen intellect and intellectual curiosity.”
Those who know her also praised Taylor’s ability to make learning an enjoyable and effortless experience for herself and for others.
“[When Rose does her work], it’s positive,” AP Calculus teacher Tom Lee said. “It’s not like ‘Oh geez I’ve got to do all this work.’ She clearly enjoys it.”
Beyond her achievements in the classroom, Taylor has consistently excelled on nearly every possible front.
Taylor has been a finalist in the annual spelling bee during each of her four years at South, won the Heintzelman writing competition that upperclassmen from both Newton high schools participate in annually, and stage managed and directed plays for South Stage.
Taylor also takes classes and performs in a circus for charity, a hobby that she pursues with great dedication and joy. Next year, Taylor will teach circus to underprivileged children in urban St. Louis, after which she will attend Yale University the following year.
Taylor’s former chemistry teacher Alan Crosby, who has worked with Rose both as a student and a teaching assistant, appreciated her well-rounded personality.
“There are a lot of students who are bright, hardworking or intelligent, [but] it’s unusual to see someone who possesses all of them,” Crosby said. “She’s the whole enchilada.”
Despite her plethora of accomplishments at South, students and teachers alike said that Taylor has maintained a humble and selfless attitude throughout high school.
“Rose downplays her [own] academic success,” AP Chemistry teacher Suzy Drurey said, “and she consistently puts the needs of others before her own.”
Senior Dina Bedri agreed.
“She’s certainly competitive, likes to do well, and be the best, but she [also tries] to keep a level head,” Bedri said.
Kershaw recalled Taylor’s modesty throughout the college decision process. Taylor had forgotten to let him know of her acceptance decisions from some of the finest institutions in the country, Kershaw said. He heard about the decisions only later from Taylor’s younger brother.
“Rose is so humble about her achievements, she is able to think that she is just one of the gang,” Kershaw said. “That to me is something really fascinating. [It’s] a hallmark of who she is.”
Taylor’s inner creativity and originality have helped her shine in the classroom and on the stage.
Conrad said that Taylor’s contributions to the classroom environment are consistently one-of-a-kind and original.
“When [Rose] speaks it’s always a brand new thought,” Conrad said. “She says really thoughtful things, and she never paraphrases what other people have said.”
“[Rose has the ability to] uncover things by looking at [them] from a different angle,” Kershaw said. “She brings a refreshing new perspective to anything she’s involved in. Her tireless energy is needed in every aspect of life.”
Taylor’s junior year AP Biology teacher Mita Bhattacharya applauded her leadership skills and her ability to facilitate group activities.
Bhattacharya recalled a laboratory activity she had Taylor’s class work on last year, that quickly became chaotic.
“I told Rose, ‘you’re in charge’ and she had a system going right away to [collect] meaningful data,” Bhattacharya said. “Students respect her enough to follow her lead and so she has leadership skills [and] interpersonal skills.”
Bhattacharya also commended Taylor’s dedication to her duties as a teaching assistant in the Science Learning and Instructional Center, for which she will be remembered both by teachers and the many struggling underclassmen whom she selflessly spent her hours helping.
Despite her success in her high school endeavors and college admissions process, Kershaw said that Taylor is not the typical stressed-out, intensely-competitive South student.
“When you look at Rose, you see that you don’t have to really buy into that model,” Kershaw said. “You can pave your own path, can do things you want to do, can succeed by sometimes letting things unfold as they may [but] working your hardest, and trusting that you’ve done the absolute best you can.”
“She’s able to take the entire package of academics and social and life beyond school, and basically excel in all of them, [yet] have such inner calm and inner peace,” Kershaw said. “[She can] shrug things off and understand that sometimes things happen for a reason, and not be super anxious or super overwhelmed.”
“Rose is the kind of student a teacher is very fortunate to have even once in a lifetime,” Roychowdhury said.
