- Joe Sheehan
- The Westminster Schools, graduate
Joe Sheehan likes staying busy. He covers a lot of ground.
During The Westminster Schools’ recent graduation, Joe was named co-valedictorian, meaning he attained the highest grade-point average among the boys graduating this year.
He earned that GPA while engaged in a number of after-school activities, ranging from running a student newspaper to running competitively as part of the track team. He was captain of the cross-country team, a sport he says he was drawn to as a discipline of the mind.
“I like running cross country because of the mental struggle that it presents,” he said
As co-editor of the student newspaper, the Westminster Bi-Line, Joe collaborated with other student editors to assign articles to others on the staff, edit and publish them. He started working for the paper during his freshman year.
Another creative aspect of his high school life involves studying and making art. Joe was also an editor for Embryo, a publication put together by group of students who meet and critique art works submitted by members of the Westminster student body.
An Advanced Placement class in two-dimensional art studies developed Joe’s interest in books and the world they create. He decided to focus on the distinction between reality and fantasy. Using book jackets, Joe created landscapes and images with different layers.
As a Young Democrat and a member of the school’s Model United Nations program, Joe debated political issues. Throughout the year, he met with classmates to debate the country’s healthcare needs or compare the fiscal plans presented by candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
Now, Joe wants to fly airplanes.
He has been working since his sophomore year to earn his flying license and hopes to receive it this summer. To get a license, he must learn how to fly a plane in both good and bad weather, know air traffic laws, and learn how to navigate a plane without using a GPS.
That should help him cover even more ground.
What’s Next:
Joe plans on attending Princeton University in the fall.
This article was reported and written by Sierra Middleton, a student at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School.