Declan Buckley ’20
5th Reunion
Shipley prepared me for college through its competitive and comprehensive course offerings. Many of the classes I took functioned similarly to the ones I ended up taking in college, with multiple long-term projects supplemented by intense, productive group discussions.
Dr. Pickering truly helped me to become the best academic version of myself. I had her for Modern European History and 11th Grade English, and the coursework in both was equal parts challenging and rewarding. I particularly appreciated how much time she invested in annotating students’ essays.
I participated in Student Government throughout high school, and was All-School President my senior year. I was also a member of the soccer and baseball teams. Though I did not participate in these at college, they aided me in my primary extracurricular activity. As Sports Editor of the weekly student newspaper, I was able to pair my past experiences as an athlete with my leadership skills from student government.
One of my favorite parts about Shipley was how easy it was to try new things. While I could never call myself an actor (and certainly not a singer), participating in the musical my senior year is one of my fondest memories from Shipley. Taking this same open-mindedness with me beyond Shipley has allowed me to discover many more opportunities I may have otherwise avoided.