Seniors Experience Independence and the Working World Through ISPs

St. Margaret’s seniors are wrapping up their capstone assignment before graduation—an experiential-based Independent Senior Project designed to give seniors a taste of independence as they prepare for their transition from high school to college.

ISPs give seniors an opportunity to apply their St. Margaret’s experience to the outside world. The seniors are taking part in internships and field experiences at businesses, nonprofits and academic settings, volunteering at various organizations, taking on a creative project, or connecting to the natural world in a self-sustaining environment.

The ISPs are as nearby as on St. Margaret’s campus and, this year, as far away as Asia and Europe.

As in past years, students have benefited from the generosity of St. Margaret’s alumni and other members of the community, who have given back to the school through ISP opportunities.

“What we’re seeing is students who have been through ISPs during their time at St. Margaret’s are now able to offer ISPs themselves,” said Upper School teacher Pete Clark, who oversees the ISP program. “We are so grateful to see Tartans giving back and helping our current students like this.”

Jake Kofdarali is working at Five Points Communities, a residential development company in Aliso Viejo. The ISP is hosted by Serene Haddad ’09, a strategic planning manager at Five Points. Gavin Clarke is interning at Athletes First in Laguna Hills, learning about the business of sports in an ISP supervised by Max Sutro ’08 who works in client marketing and branding for the agency.

Three seniors—Alice Lee, Grace Miyamoto and Sarah Ko—are working with Phillips Pictures and director Parker Phillips ’07 on his current film project.

Alice Na worked in the anatomy lab at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, where she reports having “a variety of experiences that essentially mirror that of the graduate students” including dissections and editing and translating Ph.D. papers and textbooks.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Kim Maguire worked in the field of speech pathology for young children at the Centro de Tratamento de Gaguez in Lisbon, Portugal. Doing this ISP in a foreign country gave her insight into speech pathology in another language.

Closer to home, Skyler Cordery is in Carson City, Nev., working in the office of Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. There, she has assisted in issues ranging from technology to energy.

Some seniors choose to devote their ISP to service. In Irvine, Julia DaMour and Ania Ohanesian are assisting at WHW, a non-profit that provides the unemployed and underemployed with skills to make them more marketable job candidates. Jay Phansalkar, meanwhile, is serving at the Boys & Girls Club of San Juan Capistrano, and Natalie Kowal is volunteering at the nonprofit Talk About Curing Autism in Irvine. 

On campus, Tarika Gujral is further developing a program for Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano that will integrate Model United Nations into the curriculum.

As a way to build skills in leadership, teamwork, risk management and self-reliance while connecting with the natural world, 10 Tartans are spending six days in the Jennie Lakes Wilderness in Sequoia National Forest in a wilderness backpacking adventure.

The program is run by Positive Adventures, and focuses on empowering students to challenge themselves mentally and physically, improve leadership skills, build resiliency, and develop backpacking and outdoor skills in the picturesque setting of the Sierra Nevadas.