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JDP senior Bella

JDP senior Bella is enjoying her senior year at McDonough and is grateful for the experience she’s had there. She’s loved the sense of community that’s been built at this prestigious school that doesn’t feel elite to her. She’s been the recipient of the caring faculty that’s helped her to realize her potential in more ways than she can count.

Bella is very involved at McDonough to help make the school a great one. She’s a leader at the writing center and helps to train new people who work there. Her role is an administrative one to make the writing center an attractive option for the student body to utilize. She’s found candy has been a big help!

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Bella’s also been involved with mock trial and hopes to have a lawyer role this year. Mock trial is a huge commitment on the part of the members. Bella loves the blend of academia and theatre to make all this happen. Participants are given large books they are expected to study their roles and become experts. One year she learned all about home inspection requirements for her role as an ‘expert witness’ in one of her mock trials.

Maryland Mock Trial releases cases every year for the participating students. This year Bella and a friend will lead the process. The trial is scored by actual judges from the community who attend the court proceedings.

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Bella’s also very passionate about computer science studies and STEM (science/technology/engineering/math). She’s excited to further her studies in STEM in college and is currently torn between University of MD, Michigan, UMBC, RIT and Brynmar.

This love with the sciences started for Bella the summer entering her junior year quite by chance. And it’s a chance she’s very grateful for. A computer science teacher reached out to a group of girls and requested they try some of the courses over the summer to see if they liked them. If they did, the teacher encouraged the girls to take the AP Java Course.

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Bella found the courses engaging and they came very naturally to her. She began investing more time in learning coding. She joined an unofficial computer science team in competitions. She has plans to start a “Girls who Code” club at McDonough. She’s eager to see more young women be given the opportunity to flourish in the traditionally male dominated field of computer science, much earlier in their education. She imagines where she’d be if she had begun this just a few years earlier and wants that opportunity for others.

Bella has been playing piano for 12 years of her young life. She is classically trained and may just be the most talented live pianist I have ever heard. We had the pleasure of hearing her play as my sweet neighbor Julia opened her home to share her baby grand with us.

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Bella has played at Carnegie Hall and Columbia University after winning competitions at 10 years old. She has a conservatory grand piano at home which was the equivalent of buying an SUV over 5 years…but will last much longer! Unfortunately we were not able to create on her own piano because of an emergency within her family. Which makes us sooo grateful for Julia opening her home to us!

Bella you are a delight and we enjoyed our time with you so much! Any university that gets you as a student will be fortunate! I wish you all the best as you prepare to soar into this next stage of life filled with so much promise! Keep blessing the world with your incredible talent you have poured so much of yourself into honing!

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