Rhea Y. Damisi O. Amara N.
The halls at GA have become noticeably quieter as seniors have left to complete their Senior Projects. With about a hundred fewer students in the building, the shift is easy to hear and feel. Some seniors are traveling abroad, while others are working in labs or developing independent ideas.
Every year, Seniors engage in a month-long capstone project. Senior projects are designed for students to test-drive future career paths or take advantage of once-in-a lifetime adventures to explore the world they live in. Seniors Zoey Clark ‘26, Jayden Gattuso ‘26, and Evan Badami ‘26 share their plans on how they intend to take advantage of this opportunity
Clark is taking her project overseas to Iceland because she enjoys traveling and wants to find out why this country consistently ranks among the happiest countries in the world.
Her research focuses specifically on senior living. During her time spent locally and Iceland, she plans to gather qualitative data to see how people will engage with them.
“We were either going to do a fashion show with the elderly residents, or maybe a cookie tasting,” Clark said. “We’re also doing pen pal letters…We’re going to see how they respond to letters like that.”
Using this information she plans to compare the happiness of the U.S. residents to Icelanders.
Clark added what she wanted to take from her project abroad, with her hoping it would enhance the quality of her own life and her loved ones, too.
“Maybe every morning they meditate or they do something different that I could implement into my life, as well as my friends’ lives, that could make us happier and just be more fulfilled and validated in life,” Clark said.
Not every Senior Project requires a passport. Jayden Gattuso ‘26 feels closer to home in a perfume shop, although having little experience.
“I have never thought of myself as artistic in the fact that I wasn’t a great drawer, painter or even coloring in the lines, so perfumery was the art that I could engage in and appreciate without that,” Gattuso said.
Gattuso’s schedule during his project contains both engagement with customers and backstage access to how the business of perfumery works.
“Two of the weeks I’m working inside the store, doing basic tasks and working with customers; however, the other two weeks I’m working with my host directly to assist and shadow the production for his newest fragrance curation,” Gattuso said.
As Gattuso continues in this role, he aims to dive deep into the process of making perfumes, observing what it takes to make it, and hoping to implement the lessons learned into his own life.
“It will take my appreciation for perfumery to another level in the fact that I can understand the why and how behind it all,” Gattuso said. “Maybe even help me make a high-level version of my own at some point”.
Another senior with an interesting Senior Project is Evan Badami ‘26, who discovered his passion for mountaineering through going on trips with his friend Andreas Szautner ‘26.
“I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors, but I haven’t had many opportunities to explore that passion,” Badami said. “Andreas’s and his dad used to invite me on camping trips every summer and that’s where I realized I love the wilderness.”
Going on camping trips wasn’t the only factor that played into deciding his Senior Project. In the past, Badami has gone on other adventurous escapades, where he learned his love for climbing.
“I used to do rock climbing with my friends,” Badami said. “So I combined camping and rock climbing, and I got mountaineering.”
Badami hopes to attain skills beyond camping and rock climbing, applying his trip to his future goals.
“I hope to gain experience and technical abilities from this trip,” Badami said.
Although GA’s halls may feel different without the seniors, these students are gaining experiences far beyond the classroom. Whether traveling abroad, exploring creative careers, or building outdoor skills, Senior Projects allow seniors to turn personal passions into meaningful learning opportunities that shape their futures.