Kids these days. It’s a common refrain with each generation. Google defines this effect as: “The incorrect belief that children in the present are substantively different and necessarily worse than children a generation or two ago.” Even Google knows that it’s a myth, but we have gone a step further and ventured out into our community to prove that kids these days are, in fact, exceptional. Well, at least ten of them are (plus a bunch more who would have made the cut if we were featuring twenty or thirty of Westport, Weston and Wilton’s finest young folks).
Staples High School, Weston High School, Wilton High School, Greens Farms Academy, Fairfield Prep, St. Luke’s, King School and Wooster School submitted their most impressive upperclassmen from our towns, and the pool is brimming and bright with: nationally ranked athletes, political prodigies, environmental stewards, award-winning artists, published writers, multilingual phenoms, school ambassadors and budding medical researchers. Each of our finalists juggles a mind-boggling schedule of academic and extracurricular activities, and every last one is a compassionate human being who proves KIDS THESE DAYS ARE AWESOME.
MOLLY GORDON
King School
King School senior Molly Gordon aces her challenging act of balancing academics, riding, cooking and community service. Gratitude, community and family are themes that come up often with Molly and are the glue that hold her pace through life at a steady, serene gallop.
“Being around horses all day I feel very grateful,” says Molly, who, with her sister, owns four horses. “We ride six to eight horses a day.” She competes on the A-Circuit, in the Junior Hunter division, and travels as far as Florida and Kentucky to compete. Molly competed at the Junior Hunter Finals in Michigan over the summer. With 80 people in each class, Molly was a consistent top placer and also won champion at Old Salem. “I owe it all to my really, really nice horse,” she says. Molly’s mom grew up on a farm in South Africa and her grandparents live next door to a stable. “I grew up around horses,” says the Weston resident. “My dad’s parents lived next door to Salko Farms.” As far as horse care—the hard part—Molly says, “I do everything. So much work goes into keeping horses performing at their top level.”
Molly is also very involved at Lachat Farms. “They have local farmers’ markets over the summer. I set up a booth to facilitate the transfer of leftover vendor produce to food pantries. I would collect it at the end of the market, package it up in bags and attach recipes that went accordingly with the produce,” she explains. Molly also collected donations from the Weston community to help grow the food pantries and taught cooking classes to second and third graders at Lachat in the kitchen that was built in her father’s honor. (Brian Gordon passed away in 2017. Donations in his honor went to Lachat.)
Molly is also serving a three-year term as a patient partner at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP). “I wanted to give back to the community and people at CHOP,” says Molly, who was a patient at CHOP during her sophomore year, when she battled anorexia. “I’m a resource for patients and parents who have any questions. They are building a new facility and expanding their adolescent medicine. I’m helping with the creative part and design for that as well. It has been really amazing.”
With aspirations to study finance in college, Molly spent some time interning at Goldman Sachs and Neuberger Berman over the summer.
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What is the greatest challenge you have overcome?
I think working to find a balance between my academic life and the pressures of school and making time for what I enjoy outside of the classroom. It has been hard. Now I’m finding a positive two-way street between academic success and not only spending time with friends and family but horse riding as well.
What would you tell your freshman self?
Life goes by really, really quickly. It’s hard to believe I’m a senior already. Enjoy every moment, even the tears—the crying over a bad paper, a bad grade. Going through the harder moments brings gratitude for the good moments.
Which teacher had the biggest impact on you?
There are so many! My eighth grade English teacher is one. At the beginning of the year, I wanted to improve my writing. Every day after school, she would spend an hour with me. By the end of the year, I really felt ready for high school. What I learned will help as I’m writing a research paper this year; I’m doing an independent study about Spain’s involvement with the European Union. This will combine finance with my love for Spain and the Spanish language. I have my certificate of bi-literacy in Spanish and took AP Spanish Language and Culture last year. I’m taking AP Spanish Literature this year.
Words to live by?
It may sound generic, but: Live life to the fullest. Especially in this day and age, we are so consumed with technology, Snapchat, TikTok, getting into college—we all forget to take a breath, look around us and enjoy it.