By Clara Moffitt

Sometimes it seems like the hours Tempe Prep students pour into grueling homework assignments, long essays, and endless Humane Letters readings will never be worth it. However, TPA alums show us that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There are eight prestigious East Coast colleges in the Ivy League, and TPA had an amazing sweep of alums recently graduate from almost all of them.

Dartmouth

Drawn to Dartmouth’s small class sizes and intimacy, Alexander Agadjanian (TPA ‘14) received a bachelor degree in both Quantitative Social Science and Government. He is now excited to begin his job as a senior research associate at the MIT Election and Data Science Lab. After two years of working at MIT he plans to apply for a PhD program in Political Science.

While at school, Alexander was the senior survey editor and sportswriter of The Dartmouth student newspaper along with working as a research assistant in the Government department. He also “worked on several research projects at the intersection of public opinion, political psychology, and experimental science, one project I was able to present at a national political science conference,” he says.

But one does not just become as successful as Alexander in an instant. It takes lots of work, work that begins not just in college. Agadjanian credits much of the basis of his learning to his TPA education. His mom says, “His thesis defense went very well. We think it’s the experience from TPA.” Beyond academics, Tempe Prep provides education in life skills and qualities to bring to a university. At TPA, Alexander says he understood the value of learning and thinking deeply about subjects simply for the sake of knowledge. Additionally, he says, “The close contact and interaction with faculty at TPA made me realize its value in my learning process, and I carried this knowledge to college in always staying in touch and working with my professors in class and research.”

Columbia

Also receiving a bachelor from an Ivy League university, TPA’s basketball star, Camille Zimmerman (TPA ‘14), graduated from Columbia University in New York City. Camille has already been a highlight in TPA’s alumni history as she played collegiate-level basketball, earning Ivy League Rookie of the Year multiple times. Beyond numerous awards, Camille also served her college team, being the team captain, “making incredible memories with her teammates,” her mom says. She also holds the all-time scoring record for both Columbia’s men’s and women’s teams. Beyond athletics, Camille succeeded in academics, earning her degree in economics. She also enjoyed her Sports Economics course and leading two Christian groups on campus.

Looking to the future, Camille has big plans. She will continue to dazzle with her basketball abilities as she has signed to a professional basketball team in Finland. Having also attended a WNBA training camp, she hopes to make the WNBA roster next year. Camille notes that her “time at TPA gave her the core values she needed to be academically, athletically, and culturally prepared for Columbia.”

Princeton

TJ Smith (TPA ‘14) was drawn to Princeton’s passion of learning, TJ earned Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. Faced with the challenge of balancing demanding classwork while also having a fun college experience, TJ learned the importance of extracurriculars you care about and learning for the sake of learning, a valued concept at Tempe Prep. TJ says that “TPA provided an incomparably strong foundation in Western history and philosophy. It also gave me strong writing and discussion skills that served me very well in my classes.” For his Princeton senior thesis, he and two classmates “designed a silicon-based, terahertz video camera for imaging and inspection applications. It is part of a lot of current research toward similar devices that have properties somewhat similar to x-rays and applications in food inspection, electronics inspection, security screening, and biomedical imaging.” This detector surpasses the current international state of the art by 10 times. The group’s faculty adviser said he “has not seen any undergraduate project close to it.” They won the Princeton School of Engineering award for best senior thesis.

We also had several TPA alums earn graduate degrees from Ivy League universities.

Cornell

Andrew Matsumoto (TPA ’13) who earned a Master of Engineering in Computer Science from Cornell University in upstate New York, a mere year after graduating cum laude from Cornell with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. Andrew is excited to be working in cybersecurity for Boeing in St. Louis with advanced technology on projects for the defense and intelligence communities.

Yale

At Yale University, Hannah Peckham (TPA ’08) completed a Masters in Religion with a concentration on the History of Christianity, after earning an AB from Duke University, where she was a double major in History and Religion. She is now beginning coursework for a PhD in American history at the University of Notre Dame.

Harvard

Alex Porter (TPA ‘10) finished his masters, earning him two degrees from Ivy League universities. First, Alex graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in Music and Architecture from Columbia University. He then earned his master’s in architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. While there, Alex won the Digital Design Prize and a medal for being top of his class. Alex is now an architect in Boston and is working on a big project to be built in China.

Though it seems impossible, there is a reality beyond high school. A reality that, given proper amounts of work and effort now, can be as successful and promising as four of TPA’s most recent Ivy League alumni. Our alums agree: success is cultivated by taking advantage of the incredible opportunities and lessons TPA students have access to. So, though your Humane Letters book may seem long, or your math problems seem dim, remember the lesson our alumni display: the future is bright and, as author Ken Poirot acknowledges, “Success awaits those who steadfastly commit to any requisite sacrifice