Students pursue a variety of personal interests through extracurriculars

By Amelie Mitra, Reporter
Featured images contributed by Perannos and Milo Zinser

While most three-year-olds play with alphabet blocks, sophomore Jules Huang began her journey with the violin in her hands. Now, 12 years later, Jules continues to pursue her interest in music, developing songs and techniques. Like Jules, there are many dedicated students at NCHS who cultivate their skills in regard to their passions both inside and outside of school.

In the past, Jules participated in local orchestras and auditioned for selective honor ensembles. “As of very recently I stopped doing the Norwalk Youth Symphony, but I will be doing the high school regional orchestra this year,” Jules said.

In addition to students interested in musical endeavors, junior Eleanor Clarke, middle school liaison of the Model UN Club, contributes time and effort to the Model UN club. “I help run the middle school club,” Eleanor said. “I put together presentations and help teach middle schoolers how to participate in activities. We teach something called parliamentary procedure, which is the more formal side of Model UN. It’s been a really great learning experience for everyone involved.”

Oftentimes students at NCHS present their interests and passions publicly. Sophomore David Emeagwali competed in and won Stamford’s STEMfest of 2026. “My brother and I competed in a challenge where teams had to build a product using only the STEM topics taught during the event,” David said. ”I pitched our project to a panel of judges who scored both the product and presentation on a formal rubric.”

Unlike presenting to an audience or to judges, students in Model UN present to peers with the intention of collaborating with them. “Everyone who wants to speak makes an opening speech and talks about their country,” Eleanor said. “They try to establish some connections in the room.”

Common interests often bring people together in unique ways. “I realized after a couple of months of it that it was a really great community of people,” Eleanor said. “It has been a great way to improve my public speaking skills and meet people from different schools and practice making connections with people from scratch.” 

Along with peers, mentors provide support for students to grow when struggling. “My teacher, Ms. Jessica, is really nice and good at explaining things,” Jules said. “I can tell how she specializes in her advice based on who she’s working with, she’s just a really good teacher. I can always ask my teacher for assistance, I am very close with her. When I face challenges she’s always there to help.”

Students often develop interests at a young age through exposure to media, and later choose classes that allow them to explore these interests further. “My interest in STEM grew from watching creators build innovative gadgets on YouTube, wanting to design my own algorithms and taking AP Computer Science Principles. This helped push me further into programming,” David said.

After practicing and learning for many years, students may reach significant milestones. Jules follows the Suzuki method book curriculum, musical books containing songs from various composers. “Right now I’m in book eight so I have had my one, two, three, four, five, six, seven book graduations. Those are always fun because I get to really celebrate what I’ve been working on,” Jules said.

Through time, effort, and trial and error, students can discover their interests and develop a clearer sense of the paths they want to pursue. “When I was younger, I was inspired by the idea of creating things from scratch,” David said. “Seeing real people build technology online made me want to understand how it worked and eventually make my own.”

Before presenting their learnings publicly, students must undergo the necessary preparations. “One thing that I do prior to the conference is write a position paper so I know what my country, person or character is standing for, ” said Eleanor.

When learning and improving, challenges will arise, and each student has a different perspective and approach. “I have to do a lot of reviewing and adding dynamics to make it more interesting to listen to. When I play, I want it to be an experience for the audience,” Jules said. “Although every time I learn a new song there are struggles, I have to persevere because the violin is worth it.”