Success After Solebury School

Claire Maloney '15
Dickinson College 2019

 

“If I didn't have the leadership opportunities I had at Solebury, I wouldn't have been able to be a leader in college. The supportive environment at Solebury made that possible for me. ” —Claire

 

At Solebury School, Claire was a dorm proctor and a “sherpa” (tour guide) for our Admissions department, the type of student who was always willing to lend a hand. Her passion for helping others — including a specific interest in destigmatizing mental health issues — inspired her faculty advisor, Nicole Mount, to nominate her for a grant from a fellowship now called HERLead. Claire landed the grant, which helped her kickstart a project at Solebury School called “Don’t Conceal to Heal.” For the project, Claire hosted experts on campus for presentations related to mental health.

Claire then took her idea and ran with it in college. “I started Don’t Conceal to Heal at Solebury and brought it to Dickinson my freshman year. Don’t Conceal to Heal works to actively decrease the stigma of mental health conditions, rallying the Dickinson College community to engage in a productive conversation about mental health,” Claire explained. “I plan events, coordinate social media, and run club meetings. I have even have fostered policy change to the student Wellness Center.”

Today, Claire is a senior Educational Studies major and Religion minor. She is also the secretary of Kappa Delta Pi, an International Education Honor Society that requires her to complete 16 hours of education-based community service per year. Last semester, Claire studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark; she stayed in Copenhagen over the summer to intern at a school for children with autism.

Like many Solebury School alumni, Claire draws a line from her success at Dickinson back to her Solebury experience. “Solebury shaped me into a confident person and gave me the tools I needed to succeed,” she said, adding that living at Solebury as a boarding student especially boosted her independence and led to a smooth transition during her freshman year. “Solebury also gave me the writing skills and the academic background in general that I needed for college. I was able to adjust to the pressures of classes at college quickly.”

—Fall 2018

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