Alumni Stories

Kelli Johnson ● David McNeil ● Mabel Rodriguez ● Christopher Hidalgo ● Christina Green

Kelli Johnson, Class of 2002, SOH Board of Trustees

I joined Summer on the Hill after fifth grade. The last thing I wanted to do after a long school year was even more school. But that first summer was magical. One core memory was the musical theater program. We sang “Oklahoma!” from the musical. Everyone was given one line and when it was my turn...well, let’s just say I’m still waiting on my Tony Award! To this day, though, I love going to the theater. I actually went to see Oklahoma a few years back when it was on Broadway, and I was instantly transported back to that first SOH summer.

Another one of my favorite things was our literature class and our library time. I have always been an avid reader and at SOH, I had access to materials I didn’t have in my school. I do not know too many other fifth graders who have read The Iliad. Reading Homer at a young age definitely helped shape me, because I remained a Classics scholar through the rest of schooling.

Following my last summer at SOH, I lost my mother unexpectedly. She was very involved in my schooling, and when we had to deliver the news to the team at SOH they were equally devastated. Everyone was so supportive, making sure that I was on track to get into an independent school for high school. I was able to lean on the SOH community for advice during one of the toughest times in my life. That guidance was constant and invaluable.

One of the most influential figures in my SOH journey was Dr. McIvor. I reached out to him after my junior year of high school, after slacking on my service hours, worried that I was not going to graduate. He told me that I could complete my hours that summer.

As I look to the future of SOH, I am most excited about building an alumni network so we can continue to thrive. I encourage alums to reach out to me or other alums so we can grow the network and help SOH grow as an organization and continue well beyond the next 30 years.

David McNeil, Class of 2003, SOH Board of Trustees

The Musical Theater program will always be among my fondest memories of Summer on the Hill. To this day, I attribute my love of the theater to Steve and Anita - the teachers that ran, what I consider, the best musical theater program that a kid from the Bronx would ever have both the pleasure and opportunity to be a part of.

From The King and I to Oklahoma, we would perform these Broadway musicals for our families and friends. In most instances, these were shows we had never even heard of prior to the program. It expanded our world and our perception of fine arts. It provided us with a creative outlet and taught us how to express ourselves in this new artistic fashion - through singing, dancing, and acting. It built my confidence, shaped my love for the arts, and inspired me to see something I once thought intangible as part of my reality.

The Musical Theater program also played a huge role in developing my public speaking skills. Those performances prepared me to be comfortable in front of large crowds and, more importantly, to do so with confidence and a sense of charisma. I learned to articulate my thoughts clearly, project my voice with clarity, speak with a sense of pace and rhythm, and directly engage with the audience in a way that would captivate. Those skills have been invaluable in my professional life, whether it be a meeting with colleagues or presenting in front of audiences at major conferences and conventions. Those skills have directly shaped who I am today and I could not be more grateful for the experience.

My advice for SOH students? Keep going! I know that it’s difficult to wake up early on a Saturday morning to go to school, after having gone all week. I know it’s challenging to dedicate the majority of your summer to more schoolwork and classes. I know that it would be much easier to not place more work on top of the workload you already have from the school you normally attend. Keep going anyway. Summer on the Hill will open more doors for you than you can ever imagine. It will provide you with the skills and the resources that you won’t even realize that you need until much later. Skills you won’t even realize that you have until long after they’ve been developed by Summer on The Hill. I can confidently say that attending the program is something that your future self will thank you for. Embrace the opportunity. Enjoy the moment. Excel for life.

Mabel Rodriguez, Class of 2000, SOH Director of Curriculum, Placement, & Alumni Relations

Although I graduated from SOH 24 years ago (!), I have so many fond memories of my time as a student. I remember visiting the John Dorr Nature Lab in 8th grade. On our walk back from the lake, one of the Dorr teachers led us to this patch of land where they were growing mint and they allowed us to pick a leaf to taste. The feel of the fuzzy plant sticks out in my mind for some reason. Perhaps it’s because we didn’t spend time outdoors like this in my regular school. Or maybe because I was in awe about how amazing nature can be. Something about leaving the city and being with your friends in a beautiful place was always really special to me. As an adult, having gone back to Dorr on our alumni overnight trips, the memories flood back and I am still struck with how much that place meant to all of us.

One particular skill the program taught me is to manage academic challenges with confidence. Being a student in honors programs comes with some (often self-imposed) pressure to perform, but Summer on the Hill helped me believe that I could handle academic challenges from a young age. Once I got to high school, I felt prepared for the additional work that schools like Bronx Science and later Duke University required. In my career now, I feel prepared to handle different tasks like placement, curriculum development, and whatever else the program needs to succeed.

In high school, I worked as a Summer Mentor for SOH. I realized how much I loved working with children and genuinely enjoyed connecting and fostering those relationships with them and helping them do the same with each other as a class . This led to my interest in being a teacher and now my role at SOH. To this day I still keep in touch with alumni I've taught or mentored. They are impressive adults now, and knowing that I was a small part of their educational journey is one of the great joys of my career. 

Christopher Hidalgo, Class of 2017

I started at SOH in the 7th grade, but even so, I made friends for a lifetime. I think SOH was the first time I was forced to make friends in an entirely new environment, and I came in as an outsider so I was very scared about making a good impression on my classmates. One of the things I remember (and something they won’t let me forget) is when they told me that I said “pero” in almost every sentence. This joke made me feel that I was part of a larger friend group.

I’m still in constant communication with 5 people from my cohort, but the one I see and talk to most often is Ericka Familia. Click here to read a 2021 interview with Ericka. We attend Harvard together and serve on the board of the Dominican Students Association, myself as the Professional Development and Community Outreach Chair and her as President. We see each other often around campus, grab meals together, catch up, and attend social events together. We met in 7th grade in ELA when I sat behind her and we have been in each other's lives ever since.

Of all the teachers I had, Ms. Rodriguez has had the most impact on me. From enrollment to giving me my first job as an SOH mentor, from helping me with my college applications to my decision to enroll in Harvard, she has been a constant in my academic and personal life.

I think the best thing I learned at SOH was the skill of reaching out. Whenever I was in need, had a question, or was unsure about a certain path I should take, I was always told to reach out – to take that first step in helping myself. SOH taught me that when you don’t have all the answers, you know someone who can get you there. This skill has landed me job opportunities, fellowships, research positions, and has helped me forge relationships with people who have similar goals.

Christina Green, Class of 2014

I attended SOH from 3rd grade through high school. The musical theater program is something that I hold close to my heart. It wasn’t something that I usually got a chance to do in my weekday school and it gave me a chance to get out of my comfort zone. I still remember all of the songs and floor placements from my first 3rd grade summer showcase!

Being able to sing in the musical theater classes and performance led to me participating in many plays and performances outside of SOH. I knew that I enjoyed singing, but that class was one of the first times that someone told me that I was good at something other than schoolwork. It sparked a passion that has continued into adulthood. I have not been on a stage in a while, but I am very grateful to SOH for giving me the space to explore non-academic passions.

Repetition is the best practice that I learned at SOH. I used it to study my vocab words in English and I used it during the high school program when I was studying for my ACT exams. It is a practice that I still employ now when I am working on presentations for work or helping my little cousins study.

I really struggled in my final years of high school due to interpersonal issues and it affected all aspects of my life. SOH not only offered a place for me to reinforce and strengthen my academics, but offered me a community that I had grown up with that provided me support through that time. Without SOH I would not have been able to graduate with the scores needed to get into the colleges I wanted. 

I met a lot of wonderful teachers at SOH, but I am most grateful to Ms. Rodriguez. She did my intake and was my 4th grade English teacher :) She is one of the people who has inspired me most in life and one of the reasons that I decided to become a teacher. I am very grateful for not only the guidance that she has offered over the years, but also the freedom of expression and ability to turn rowdiness in a classroom into a fruitful discussion. She is a real role model for me and I even use some of the techniques she used with us in my classrooms. 

If I could give one piece of advice to current students, it would be to use every opportunity that SOH offers. There are many things that I would not have had the opportunity to experience if it was not for this program. It is a unique opportunity to not only be on a sprawling campus, but to also have access to the amount of resources the SOH has for its students.

I don’t know if I will ever feel like I have truly given back enough to SOH for all that they have done. One way that I have started is teaching at the Saturday program. It has been amazing getting to know the new generation of SOH students and to see the program thriving after all of these years.