Taylor High School Senior Shares Story of Success with Fifth Graders
Piper Chatman, a senior at Taylor High School, was recently sitting in a College Credit Plus (CCP) course at the University of Cincinnati when she received one of the biggest announcements of her life thus far—Piper had been officially accepted into Harvard University. The private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, received 61,220 applications for the 2022–2023 school year, out of which a mere 1,954 were accepted; Piper was one of the three percent.
Taylor High School focuses on ensuring every student is equipped with resources to be successful in whatever path they choose following graduation. The Counseling Department constantly meets with students to discuss options for college, workforce, trades, or military. Piper knew that college was the path for her, and she wanted to focus on her passion, East Asian Studies. Piper will have a dual concentration in Korean and Japanese language and culture. Along with the acceptance into Harvard, Piper received a sizable scholarship, making the option to attend more feasible.
This month, Piper sat down with a group of fifth-grade students to explain her success in school and provide information about her academic career at Three Rivers School District to show them the importance of self-reflection when preparing for the future. Piper explained to the group of Taylor Middle School students that she didn’t always know what she wanted to do after high school, but she worked hard and gave credit to her mother and the teachers who helped guide her along the way. One of those teachers was Erin Metz, Taylor High School French Teacher. Piper explained that when she began taking a foreign language at Taylor, students had to choose either Spanish or French. Piper reached out to Mrs. Metz inquiring about taking both, as foreign language was one of her interests. Mrs. Metz encouraged her to speak with counselors and administration and to be her own advocate. After taking her advice, Piper was granted permission to take both Spanish and French simultaneously.
Piper has been at Three Rivers since kindergarten and gave credit for her success to the staff and various opportunities in those thirteen years. Her hardworking mindset is also much of the reason she continues to achieve her goals. Piper has also taken several Japanese courses outside of Taylor in preparation for her future career as a translator in the East Asian entertainment industry. She encouraged the fifth-grade students to “give it a shot” when thinking of trying something they’re interested in. She went on to state that, while she was skeptical about being admitted to an Ivy League school, she decided to “give it a shot” when she applied to Harvard.
During the conversation, students were taking notes from Piper’s advice, and many asked follow-up questions focusing on how they applied her advice to their passions and interests. Their reflections of their time with Piper included comments like recognizing that “she was not in APT as a little kid” and “she made it from a small town to Harvard.” Others were inspired by her, stating “anybody can learn anything if they truly want to” as well as another fifth-grade student who wrote, “you inspired everyone in that room, I could tell.”
The presentation about Piper’s success to fifth-grade students wasn’t about getting into Harvard, as that is far from everyone’s dream. Rather, the time spent was about understanding how Piper worked hard, found her interest, listened to teachers, and “gave it a shot” to be successful on her personal path to her future.