By Kara McAndrew '20

Germantown Academy has many unique opportunities and distinctive traditions that make it an amazing school. One of those opportunities is the SCUBA program. Taught for over 20 years in the GA pool, the GA SCUBA program gives GA students and their families the chance to take SCUBA diving lessons and receive their certification from a verified NAUI instructor.

SCUBA diving, however, is not just an amazing program on GA’s campus, but it is also an opportunity to connect to a larger network of divers, most easily by going on the SCUBA trip at the end of the year. Having gone on the trip myself, I can vouch for the incredible wildlife and unforgettable experience, and I’ve discovered a love for SCUBA diving that I might never have uncovered otherwise. GA’s SCUBA scholarships make the trip affordable to everyone, and enhance the trip by allowing more students to come.

I think that GA is special for many reasons, but the SCUBA program is an excellent example of the countless programs and activities that inspire students daily. In the same train of thought, I think part of what makes these opportunities so plentiful and successful is the heavy student involvement in organizing and running activities. So many clubs are driven by student power; their complex discussions are provoked and continued by students, their meetings are led by confident upperclassmen well versed in public speaking, and if students want to take action, they will write the proposals and work tirelessly until they figure out how to make their idea a reality. An example of a student run organization demonstrating GA’s cultivation of strong leaders is the Writing Center. Staffed entirely by students, the writing center depends on academic integrity and the goodwill of students to sacrifice their time to help others sort out their ideas and fine tune their papers. GA puts immense trust in its students, but only because the students earn that trust with hard work and reliability. The maturity and assumption of responsibility that seems to come so naturally to GA students never fails to amaze me. I can’t envision being in a school where everyone doesn’t have something that they can speak about and work towards with passion. Being a part of the GA community through many changes and developments, I can confidently say that the spirit of the school has not changed; the enthusiasm of teachers working to make sure that every student understands the material, the constant striving to improve every paper or assignment, the emphasis that our community places on diversity and inclusion. GA has so many amazing opportunities, but perhaps the best part is that each student gets to discover their own favorite part of GA.