Senior Maddie Friedman chopped vegetables and whisked desserts in first semester’s Chemistry of Cooking class. From one dish to the next, she learned about the chemical makeup of the food she was preparing that day, whether it be a breakfast burrito or caramels. After finishing the course, she hoped to go more in-depth with human biology and decided to conduct an independent study. 

“I’ve always been interested in diet and nutrition, and so many people see ads on social media for diets they should try,” Friedman said. “They see stuff about micronutrients, macronutrients, and supplements, and a lot of supplements either don’t do anything or have dangerous chemistry.”

Over the years, Upper School students have filled Parker’s hallways and Morning Ex schedules with displays of their hobbies and interests at the end of each semester. This semester, more than 11 students took part in different independent studies that allow students to pursue a topic of interest during a free period or outside of school. With their respective faculty advisors, students dove into a variety of disciplines, including computer programming and comedy. 

In her independent study, Friedman hopes to expand her knowledge and inform other people. For her final project, she is debating between a research paper or a presentation board. “A paper is easier to organize, but I want people to be aware of what I’m researching,” Friedman said. “I want to publicize that one diet isn’t going to work for everyone because every lifestyle is different.”

Like Friedman, senior Sammy Ziegelman is deepening a past interest. As head of Comedy Club, he is exploring the connection between comedy and culture, focusing on how comedians have discussed political, religious, or mental illness issues through the decades. “I’m learning about how cultures influence a comedian’s work and vice versa,” Ziegelman said. “This political correctness culture is negatively influencing stand up work and I wanted to explore that.”

Ziegelman cultivated a list of comedians to examine, that includes Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Sarah Silverman, and Lenny Bruce. “Lenny Bruce was famous in the 1960s when the culture was a lot different,” Ziegelman said. “I want to learn more about the history behind the political correctness and what issues were happening or what climate the comedians were in.”

Ziegelman believes that comedians should continue to break barriers to talk about topics that many consider taboo, but he understands the distinction between offensive jokes and making an audience uncomfortable. “If there’s no premise to the one and if there’s just something racist, then, of course, the intention is to be racist, but poking fun at yourself to be self-conscious in your comedy is a good thing,” Ziegelman said. “If we keep limiting what we can say on stage, that doesn’t help us expand our sense of humor.”

Like Friedman and Ziegelman, junior Grace Conrad chose to explore a hobby in depth. This semester, she is studying medium format film photography through the evolution of film cameras. Though Conrad has been interested in photography for a while, last year she started experimenting with chemicals in her bathtub, developing more film on her own. With photography teacher Katherine Palmer, Conrad is researching the 18th-century camera, photographer Saul Leiter, and test strips of film. 

“I was told a lot of the time that when I apply for schools, I should be more experimental in my work,” Conrad said. “This is an opportunity to start playing with things on a different level.”

For her final project, Conrad will display her photos in Parker’s hallways. “I want to go into cinematography and apply to programs in college,” Conrad said. “With my study, I can know that my shots may not turn out well, but conducting experiments and presenting is a really good skill to have moving forward.”

Senior Lia Palombo Schall is also diving into an area of interest, conducting an Independent Study in music theory to prepare her to take the AP Exam. Palombo Schall meets with music teacher Kingsley Tang three times a week, and he assigns her homework from two textbooks, “Barron’s AP Music Theory” and “Basic Materials and Music Theory.”

Palombo Schall started thinking about applying for music schools two years ago and hopes to receive a dual degree in Music Theory and Biochemistry. According to Palombo Schall, Parker’s class in music theory did not cover all of the topics she needs to learn for the test. 

Palombo Schall’s interest in music started when she began playing the cello at age five. Now, Palombo Schall plays for the Hyde Park Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Merit School of Music Conservatory. 

“I like how you can express yourself through music,” Palombo Schall said. “I like the environment it creates and being around other musicians.”

As Conrad shoots photos and Palombo Schall practices on her cello, senior Elijah Underhill-Miller will develop blueprints and learn to code games in his yearlong independent study in computer programming and architecture. Every month, he switches off between the topics and assigns his own projects. “For architecture, I have a partnership with a family friend in a firm downtown,” Underhill-Miller said. “I come with ideas, and he’s there to teach me specific tools of the software.”

Underhill-Miller’s final presentation will be two projects for his two topics. For computer programming, he will make a game to mimic the Computer Programming 1 final because he never took the class. For architecture, which he hopes to pursue as a career, he will present drawings and prototype designs for a small, single-family sustainable home. Underhill-Miller decided to pursue computer programming as a hobby but hopes his architecture studies will prepare him for college curricula, which use similar programming to the one he is learning. 

Similar to Underhill-Miller, senior Raven Rothkopf is independently studying computer programming. Rothkopf took Computer Programming I last semester and hoped to take Computer Programming II, but the class period was scheduled during two of her yearlong courses. Once a week, Rothkopf meets with Computer Science teacher Aaron Lee to go over lessons as the class learns them. 

Rothkopf hopes her study prepares her for her Underwater Robotics team, the Aquatic Colonels. “I’m using my free period to do private lessons and I’m learning stuff I want to use in college,” Rothkopf said. “I want to go into computer science in college, and right now I’m learning new things on my own.”