You may have seen her in the senior commons with her oversized cardigan and some pep in her step (possibly filming a tik tok or two). Co-leader of the ENACT and JCL, and Looking Glass copy editor: that’s right, it’s Faith Chen. 

Faith has written many articles for the Looking Glass over the past years. From her article on Shang Chi’s impact on the Eastern Asian community to her article on Black Lives Matter, Faith has written about some hard-to-talk-about issues. When asked what her favorite article she had ever written was, she said her article on the Capitol Riot called “The Riots at the Capitol: How do we Move on?” Looking back, she said: “I think the article allowed the readers to reflect on the phrase Mrs. Whitlock coined “courageous conversations,” and how we need to acknowledge the humanity in each person, and sit down to have difficult conversations where both parties can respectfully seek to understand the other side.”

She joined the newspaper in 9th grade because she “needed to work on my writing skills, so what better way to do that than join the newspaper? It was perfect” (shout out to any writer who’s scared to join the newspaper because they think they don’t have strong writing-— we see you…). She also loved co-writing articles. She said: “The whole process of stressing over an article together, doing it, and then reading it together— it’s really fun that way.”

When asked about what she will miss most about Montrose, she said: “The atmosphere. It is such a simplistic and pure atmosphere where we each care about one another on a deeper level, even if we only see another student in the halls or occasionally during Enrichment. There is just a deeper bond.” She definitely embodied this sentiment, always walking through the halls with a smile on her face and saying hi to everyone she passed by. 

Drawing from her senior wisdom, she had some practical advice for current and rising high schoolers. She said: “find an activity outside of Montrose where you can meet people outside of our little community. I wish I had done that earlier.” She added: “When making decisions… make sure you discern between the cases where you’re doing something because you feel obligated to, versus doing something you really want to do.” 

Faith then went on to give more advice to rising juniors and seniors specifically. She said: “Your energy is valuable. It’s so important to know how you want to invest it. To be completely candid, as high school progresses, there will be moments where you will probably feel like you’re about to burn out— especially as you approach the end of junior year and the beginning of senior year.” She said to confront these moments head on by reassessing and reflecting on your priorities, and planning your schedule. 

She emphasized: “Whatever makes you happiest in the long run, go for it.” Upon reflection on the decisions she made, she said: “It’s not that any reason I had for my choices was wrong, but looking back, I know I could’ve spent my energy on something more useful to me now.” 

Best wishes to you at UMass Amherst, Faith! Love you lots!

Elyza Tuan ‘23, Editor in Chief

23etuan@montroseschool.org