Every morning, senior Sophia Rosenkranz woke up to a view overlooking Capitol Hill. During her walks to class, she often crossed paths with notable senators or Congress officials. After school hours, she studied with friends in the National Portrait Gallery. Her days were complete with discussions of diplomacy and government, in a politically-oriented setting. 

 During the 2022 spring semester, Rosenkranz attended the School of Ethics and Global Leadership (SEGL) in Washington DC, Md. She engaged in a curriculum that involved politics and foreign affairs. On December 2, Rosenkranz led a Morning Ex to share her experience. She discussed her daily schedule, central topics, and residential life. 

“The school had an overarching theme on ethics and leadership, meaning the decisions that politicians or world leaders are making,” Rosenkranz said. “Also, how to make decisions when you are in charge or you are responsible for something big.”

At SEGL, there is one main class called “Ethics and Leadership”, in addition to regular classes like precalculus or english. Topics from “Ethics and Leadership” are built into these classes.

“For example, in my French class, we watched [President Joe Biden’s] speeches and then talked about them in French,” Rosenkranz said. “We tried to connect every single class to what we were doing in Ethics and Leadership.”

SEGAL’s location in Washington DC offers immersive learning and political resources. 

“It’s a specialized semester school– what you’re learning is right outside,” Rosenkranz said. “If you’re learning about senators, you just look outside the door, and senators are right there.”

Only 23 other students attended SEGL alongside Rosenkranz. Students can build strong relationships with faculty, and engage in concentrated learning.

“[SEGL] is really surgical in designing curriculum pinning on student’s interests and enthusiasm,” MX sponsor and history teacher Jeanne Barr said. “Also, world events and access. That school has unbelievable access. For those 24 students, they are being dropped down into ground zero of the world’s political affairs.”

In February, Rosenkranz was studying at SEGL, and simultaneously, Russia launched a military invasion in Ukraine. This event affected nations globally; the US government had to prepare for economic and political repercussions. Amidst the diplomatic unrest, Rosenkranz and her peers got the chance to speak with politicians handling the US affairs. One guest speaker included Lissa Muscatine, the Speechwriting Director to Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

SEGL classes also discussed present-day topics of gun safety, immigration, and media.  

“The opportunity for her to share [the SEGL experience] with the student body was both a reflection of honoring student work and the possibilities that exist out there for us to connect work at [Parker] with greater elements of the country,” Barr said.

Rosenkranz was drawn to SEGL because of its similarity to Parker’s democratic values, and focus on global issues. 

“Parker does emphasize current events–being in sync with the world is in their mission statement,” Rosenkranz said. “[SEGL] was very similar to Parker in terms of its mindset on making sure students are actively being citizens and participating. I thought this connection between [SEGL] and Parker was really unique.”

SEGL and Parker share a similar education philosophy; both institutions have progressive values, and work to execute experiential learning. 

“Our motto around [Parker] is learning by doing,” Barr said. “That’s the heart of progressive education–not just learning the theory of how the world works, but actually experiencing and shaping how the world works. [SEGL} was an opportunity for her to step away from Parker and have that immersive, intense experience, and then bring it back.”

At SEGL, students were required to complete cumulative  “Capstone Projects” related to central themes in class. Specifically, students had to create a policy document on a topic of choice. Rosenkranz and her peers chose to study the International Drug Trade in the Northern Triangle. The project took about a month of planning and execution. Students were then split up into groups with specified tasks.

“One group did outreach,” Rosenkranz said. “They actually reached out to embassies and different politicians to see if they would read our work. We got some [responses] back–it was really interesting because they made edits on our document.”

Outside of classes, students formed strong connections and bonds. Rosenkranz mentioned that by living and working closely with a small group, she was able to get to know her peers beyond academics. 

“You eat with them, you talk to them, do your homework with them,” Rosenkranz said. “Then, on the weekends, we could decide on fun activities to do. We all grew very close to each other. It was very special to have that connection.”

Barr described the SEGL environment as a “once in a lifetime experience.”

“It’s not just about being in DC learning about politics,” Barr said. “She was also with 23 other kids who were super interested in being in DC and learning about politics. She was kind of surrounding herself with a level of engagement that is so focused and precise.”

Senior Maddie Deutsch listened to Rosenkranz’s presentation and described it as an “inspiration” for other students. 

“It’s important for Sophia to share her experience going to DC because it will inspire other Parker students to involve themselves in the world, outreach, and topics they are passionate about,” Deutsch said.

In her presentation, Rosenkranz listed two takeaways she learned from her experience at SEGL. The first one was to always listen to others and their opinions. The second was to always pursue passions one is inspired by, and to immerse oneself in it.

“There’s so much in this world that’s going on,” Barr said. “All of us have to develop our filters to sort out what’s important to us and what’s not as important to us. When students have the opportunity to do that in a really purposeful way and explore more deeply, I think they gain so much from that.”