How IMSA Students Spent Their Summer

As the new school year starts, IMSA is buzzing with tales of summer adventures. This year, students were as busy as ever, engaging in activities ranging from volunteer services to travel to internships. When asked, students described their summer activities as “pretty dope,” “not enough,” “fun adventures,” and “like a shooting star—brilliant and brief.” Let’s explore what IMSA students did over the summer.

Many students, such as Aaliah Vazquez (’26), tutored culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse (CLED) students with an interest in STEM. Others, including Kale Suarez (’25), tutored a select few incoming sophomores in STEM areas as well as in residential living. These experiences pay forward the help and guidance many of us received in prior years. As Aaliah describes it:

“I loved being a Summer Enrichment in Academics in Mathematics and Science (SEAMS) tutor over the summer because I got to know other tutors better and make friends. I’m glad that I could be someone they could talk to. I really just hoped to do as good of a job as my SEAMS tutors did because I still remember them to this day, and they were involved in a very important part of my life!”

These experiences also provide a significant number of service hours. Other activities, such as helping family and teaching tennis to little kids, may not earn service hours but were equally fulfilling.

IMSA students also pursued internships, jobs, and/or research over the summer. Many rising seniors took advantage of available time and made significant progress on their respective SIRs, while others pursued internships to gain practical experience of working in the real world. For example, Kale Suarez was an IT intern at the Elgin Police Department! The unique experience certainly has the wow factor and also earned him the money to invest in his stock portfolio. A lot of students also took courses to place out of already advanced math and science courses. Nathan Handjojo (’26) prepped to test out of prerequisites for science courses and BC1. In his words,

“It was rewarding because I get to take fun classes instead of boring stuff.”

IMSA students also had a lot of fun over the summer. Greenley Ziemer (Class of 2025) enjoyed traveling to the Smoky Mountains with family. In Greenley’s words, 

“I stayed 8,000 feet above sea level! We traveled through all of Pigeon Forge and saw a lot of Gatlinburg. One of the best memories I have is being able to go to Dollywood with my siblings.” 

Students that didn’t go too far still had a lot of fun. As Sumaer Gupta (’26) describes it, “I went to downtown Chicago. Safe to say I didn’t want to leave.” Aaliah camped for the first time in Wisconsin and caught 11 bluegills and bass fish (!!!). Many students also combined travel with college visits. Nathan Handjojo went to the West Coast for an adventure called “Mini Takes the States” while also exploring colleges there. Finally, self-care was also high on the list. Sumaer hit the gym whenever he could, while Nathan ran 10 miles a week. Aaliah took time to organize books, make healthy meals, and work out more often, while Greenley did swimming.