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Schools

Whiz Kid David Jaramillo

An environmental advocate and a cool kid!

Our Whiz Kid this week is Senior David Jaramillo, who has attended  since 6th grade and plans on studying at Harvard in the fall. 

Since freshman year, Jaramillo spearheaded a relief fund So Far (Saving our Forests and Reefs) to assist in preservation. Through the philanthropic assistance of local businesses like , and , Jaramillo sold lunches at Brunswick with proceeds of his net totaling an amazing $15,ooo in a three-year period. Through a partnership with Global Classroom, Jaramillo's efforts and the generosity of his classmates, have help to preserve 35 acres of rainforest in Costa Rica. That's one impressive "high school special."

Jaramillo also has been part of the student governtment and an enviromental proctor focusing on making vending machines more energy efficient. A member of the school's Track and Field team since freshman year, Jaramillo runs varsity with a speciality in 100 and 200 meters.

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When Jaramilo was in 4th grade at Julian Curtiss Elementary School and participating in a Math Club, Libby Miller introduced him to the possibility of Reach Prep Jaramillo embraked on a 15-month "Prep Academy," which included Saturdays and summer school. Not only was the experience rewarding for Jaramillo, it provided a mechanism for his entrance into Brunswick School. In many ways, it is Brunswick itself who was the beneficiary of having the privilege to educate such a motivated and generous young man. Find our for yourself:

1. Who is your hero?

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There is no reason for me to consider fictional characters and classical superheroes to find my hero. All the qualities that I look for in a role model, in an ideal person, are illustrated by my dad. His most impressive quality is genuine selflessness. He has given up a lot for me to be where I am today.      

 2. If there is one thing you could change about your school what would it be?

Brunswick is an awesome community. If one is willing to take the initiative, it really has boundless opportunities. Nonetheless, if I could change one thing, I would improve the diversity of the student body. While many ethnicities and nationalities represent the high school student body, it is still not diverse enough to make an impact comparable to the diversity that exists in the top college campuses. This is obviously an ambitious change, but that’s only because any attempt at improving Brunswick calls for aiming beyond the ordinary.

3. If you had a day to yourself, what would you do?

Assuming I could only be by myself for a day, I would start off in the morning by going on a run and working out at by Greenwich Ave.  Afterwards, I would attempt to catch up on the television series, House, M.D and read any of the four books I have waiting, stacked up in my desk. At some point, I would call a few relatives whom I have unintentionally neglected due to school work and other commitments. Lastly, depending on how I’m feeling, I might make the drive out to Norwalk to get food at Five Guys — something I’ve been planning to do for awhile now but have never actually followed up on.       

4. If you could be a character in any novel you’ve ever read, who would you be and why?

At first, I considered Harry Potter.  Yes, not very original but it’s very difficult to pass up on an opportunity to literally do anything with the flick of the wrist and fly around the scenic boundaries of Hogwarts. But in the end, I chose to be the more serene—and perhaps boring—character, Siddhartha from Herman Hesse’s novel.  By the end of the novel, he has experienced the various lifestyles that exist in his time: from begging for a bowl of rice, to living in a lavish mansion. Consequently, he has determined what really makes him happy and thus how to live life properly. He is a spiritual character that has found hermetic inner-happiness. For that reason, I would be Siddhartha.       

 5. What is your favorite place in Greenwich and why?

Choosing one favorite place is very difficult. However, the one place that has the most meaning to me is . A five-minute walk from my house, JC is where I grew up and spent more than eight hours a weekday for five years. I remember all the memorable times from field day to my fourth-grade speech. JC was the starting point of my life in the US.   

David, clearly you don't need to the Harry Potter powers to take you where you want to go!

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