I’ve always subconsciously prescribed a particular image to each person I’ve gotten to know. Over the years, I’ve gathered a collection of unique mental memoranda that I associate with these acquaintances. While many of these mental notes shift and change over time, there are some cases in which they stay constant–Sesha is one such case. Since I met her, I recall associating her kindness, empathy, and impressive perceptiveness with the warmth of civil twilight. 

Sesha Geneste has been a part of the senior class since her sophomore year, and she has since contributed significantly to Keystone’s lively and welcoming community, joining Varsity Basketball, Varsity Soccer, Keycrew, Triathlon Club, World Language Club, Keystone Matters, and being a casual contributor to Keynote as well! In Keycrew, she helps plan some of the most-anticipated school events, including the homecoming dance as well as the newly-instated dress-up days at the end of each month. Sesha is also a part of Keystone Matters, where discussions about matters pertaining to Keystone’s community, including student equity, humanitarian efforts, and mental health initiatives. She particularly mentioned that, coming from a school that requires uniforms, she appreciated the unrestrictive dress code at Keystone–a contribution made by Keystone Matters. She explores her interest in sports and movement through the Triathlon Club, Varsity Soccer, and the Girls’ Varsity Basketball team, within which she mentions her appreciation for being able to build rapport with fellow teammates through competition and fun scrimmages. Having been on the basketball team with Sesha last season, I’ve seen firsthand her dedication and enthusiasm for the sport as well as the positive energy she brings to the court, a quality which is demonstrated across her academic and extracurricular pursuits.

In this vein, I think it’s proper to mention that I’ve seldom seen someone speak so emphatically about a school project as Sesha did during class check-in presentations for our year-long passion project in junior year, Stonecatcher. Sesha researched the stigmatization of Africans and their culture in Western media and how that detracts from humanitarian crises occurring across the continent. Her favorite part of the project was interviewing professionals, including a Congolese expatriate and the foreign ambassador of Botswana to Germany. I vividly remember her presentation discussing her interviews, not only because of how well the information was presented but also because of her distinct excitement for the subject. 

Her favorite memories from Keystone are those “…where you feel the effects of the community.” Field day, she recalls, is one of these moments. During her sophomore year, the first year that she joined Keystone, she remembers a classmate firmly telling her to stay on the capture-the-flag team, and she felt a sense of belonging and camaraderie with her grade. It’s small moments like these that define for her the Keystone experience. Similarly, she is fascinated with the range of people that Keystone attracts, finding that–even within the senior class of 2026–there seems to be such a diversity of thought. She notes, however, how everyone she’s met is driven by passion–although that passion may be defined differently for everyone–and believes this to link Keystone’s community.

Growing up in a boarding school in Makhanda, one which she referred to as “like [her] family,” she found it very different transferring into a day school. She found the shift between living with her classmates and living apart from school to help her grow independently and develop studying habits. She recounted how she might’ve run to a classmate’s dorm room late at night to study for a test while studying at boarding school. In comparison, at Keystone she would have to send an electronic message to the class GroupMe for any assistance. 

Despite this shift, she appreciates Keystone’s educational environment, mentioning how she enjoys our Political Science class because of how it gets her to be more conscious about world events and be more politically aware. She also enjoys the teachers, specifically shouting out her Calculus BC teacher, Mr. Mertz, for his animated disposition and “…valiant effort to make calculus bearable.”

It’s within her cumulative educational experiences, moreover, that she was able to explore her interest in physiological systems, particularly reproductive systems. This developed her interest in midwifery, a passion that developed from both her fascination with the female body’s capability to reproduce and a show she watched growing up, Call the Midwife. 

Regarding her hopes for her future career, she stated, “In a perfect world, I would want to be a midwife, but the role has become redundant.” Instead, she wants to study obstetrics and gynecology, hoping to become an OBGYN in the future. In college, she hopes to study chemistry in hopes of pursuing research on phytomedicine, a type of medical treatment that uses plant-derivatives to treat illnesses. She recalls that, growing up, she would drink Mosukujane tea, made from Mosukujane that her grandmother grew, when she got sick. Despite its bitter aftertaste, she found herself always looking for it when she got a cold, influencing her interest in researching how phytomedicines could be used as medicinal alternatives for pregnant women. She hopes to study phytomedicines to lessen the stigma on African cultures, and because they are not talked about enough as a valid way to treat illnesses in Western-centric medical practices. 

Apart from her future career aspirations, Sesha enjoys listening to music and is always looking for new music recommendations! Currently, she is working on a 3-D art portfolio in AP Art, but she also enjoys painting in her free time. She also noted how routine is important for her, mentioning that she wakes up at 4 a.m. during her sports’ off-seasons to go to the gym. 

I look forward to seeing her achieve great things in the future!