As the Class of 2023 says its goodbyes to ETHS, several Annas prepare to enter a new phase of their lives. While these people all share the same name, they each have unique interests and pursuits that are worth highlighting. 

Anna Durkin

After Anna Durkin did a service trip over the summer, she knew she wanted to go into a career of helping people. While she isn’t sure what path she will take, she is ready to enter the medical field. Durkin will be attending Ohio State University next fall and majoring in health sciences, which gives her room to decide what aspect of the medical field interests her.  

“I was going to go into nursing but then I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m so into that yet.’ So I decided just to go basically undecided, and then figure out what I wanted to do from there.”

Durkin is grateful for the many memories that she created both in and out of the classroom.

“I loved the communities that I felt like I built in my classrooms,” she voices. “Especially in my AP Biology class last year, I loved how we became such a community and almost like a family because we all just hung out every single day in our class.”

While Durkin is looking forward to a new chapter of her life, she will certainly miss many aspects of ETHS.

“I love how the school is really big, but I feel like I’ve found my people and I feel like I always felt like I belonged at ETHS and I always felt like I had someone to lean on if anything were to go wrong or anything were to happen.”

Anna Frederick

Anna Frederick has always been interested in neuroscience, and after taking an anatomy class at ETHS, she knew that she wanted to pursue a neuroscience degree in college. 

“I held a brain for the first time and I was like, ‘This is sick.’”

Frederick will major in neuroscience at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign next fall. Outside of her academics, Frederick hopes to play volleyball for fun, join health science clubs and maybe even join a crochet club. Whatever she decides to do, Frederick is grateful for the ways in which ETHS has prepared her for life after high school.

 “[My time at ETHS] taught me discipline. I mean, I took six APS this year and more last year. So it took a lot of discipline and a lot of self motivation,” she says.

Frederick hopes that students entering ETHS follow her route and strive to succeed in difficult classes. 

“Definitely challenge yourself and put yourself out there,” she says. “I know it sounds cliche, but in the long run, you’ll feel better about yourself. You’ll build your confidence and your intelligence overall. And don’t be afraid to go into APs. It may seem intimidating, but they’re worth it. And they’re really cool sometimes.”

Anna Marks

When Anna Marks started looking into her college options, she knew that she wanted to play field hockey wherever she went. When DePauw University made an offer, Marks knew it was where she wanted to be.

“DePauw is really close and they have great academics and they have a great campus; it’s really pretty there. I really loved it.”

Marks also knew that she wanted to be somewhere with nice people, and she found that at DePauw.

“I loved all of the people I met [and] all my teammates that’ll be playing with in the fall. So the coaches are super nice, and it just seems like a great tight knit community.”

As Marks thinks back to her time at ETHS, some of her favorite memories were at sporting events with friends.

“Just being with all my friends and the energy, and seeing everyone there all the time, especially at football games, that’s probably my top experience,” Marks states.

Marks also appreciates how the size of ETHS has helped her interact with new people.

“[At ETHS], I learned how to talk to people and open up to people. And when I meet new people, I feel like I’ve learned to have those kinds of communication skills with people, because there are so many people at our school that you get to know and meet a lot of new people every day.”

Overall, Marks will alway be grateful for her time at ETHS.

“I had a lot of fun in high school. So just have fun and enjoy it, because it does go by fast. People always say it, and I didn’t really believe it, but it definitely does.”

Anna Bergmann

While Anna Bergmann doesn’t know if she will pursue club soccer in college, she is grateful for the good times she had on the ETHS girl’s soccer team.

“I just have loved being a part of that [soccer] community here. So that’s gonna be my biggest goodbye.”

Outside of the soccer team, Bergmann was one of the presidents of the Sports Business Club, which allowed her to pursue her interest in sports in a different way.

As for next fall, Bergmann will attend Santa Clara University, and for now, she plans to study psychology.

“I really enjoyed the class that I took this year about [psychology]. And it made a lot of sense on my application, so it was easy for me to write about, [and] honestly, was the big reason why I chose it. And I’m just genuinely interested in it.”

Bergmann hopes that future ETHS students will utilize the endless opportunities that the school offers.

“I think I would say take advantage of all the opportunities you get here, because there’s so many unique people and organizations that you can get involved in. You should really do your research and look into stuff because there likely will be something that you’ll find interesting.”