Middle School Students Follow Their Passions Across the Globe

9/11/2024

It was a summer to remember for two eighth grade students who stepped out of their comfort zones to embrace the School’s mission of learning, striving, daring and doing.

Swimmer Max Sahi ’29 dove right into his first international competition as a member of the Bolivian Swimming Federation in Cojiba-Pando, Bolivia, where Sahi has family.

During the two-day tournament, Sahi, who has been swimming competitively since he was 6 years old, went up against clubs from Bolivia, Brazil and Peru and took home two gold medals in the 50-meter and 100-meter backstroke, and one bronze medal in the 100-meter freestyle. His accolades earned him an appearance on the local TV news channel.

“I didn't realize I came in first and got gold until my coach told me,” Sahi said. “I wasn't expecting to get a medal and when I heard I got one, I was excited and happy. It definitely boosted my morale.”

Beyond the pressure of competitive swimming, taking part in a meet in a South American country introduced new challenges for the accomplished athlete.

“It was a positive, diverse learning experience,” Sahi said. “It was a change for me because there were people from Brazil speaking Portuguese and then others speaking Spanish. It was sometimes hard to get adjusted to the different languages.”

For Sahi, who is a member of the local Empire Swim Team, there are many reasons he enjoys the sport: “I love that you can go fast and use your entire body. It's really good exercise that helps both your mental and physical health.”

Meanwhile, on another continent, classmate Stella Imamichi ’29 honed her operatic voice in France over the summer break, participating in master classes with Ukrainian opera singer Daria Mykolenko. Imamichi credited working with Mykolenko as one of the main reasons she enjoyed the experience.

“The pieces my teacher taught me were in German and Italian,” Imamichi explained. “She wanted me to understand what was coming out of my mouth — every single word. I can speak a little German, but I cannot speak any Italian. So when I was learning the lyrics to the Italian piece, she made me first repeat the lyrics a couple of times in English so I would understand it and then many more times in Italian.”

Imamichi has always had a love of singing and a passion for opera. “What I really like in opera singing is how closely the orchestra and the opera singers work,” she said. “Whenever I go to operas or just listen to them, I love how well the orchestra and the singers sound together.”

This year, the Preludes troupe performer has big dreams. “I want to perform the aria that I learned in France in front of the middle school community in a talent show perhaps,” Imamichi mused. “I did two talent shows last year, and both times the audience was so supportive. That's why I love performing at Masters so much.”