specific things because I don ’ t know who I would be without Crofton House .”
“ Being given the opportunity to explore my interests to a high degree , so to compete internationally for debate or organize school-wide events as a prefect really showed me my capacity to have a dream and then see it through — even if it wasn ’ t specifically in medicine or research .”
Did you have any teachers at CHS who inspired you ?
“ There are so many teachers at Crofton House I could mention . Mr Fischer in the Junior School and Ms Catia in the Senior School come to mind . I owe a lot to my teachers throughout Junior School and Senior School .”
Katharine mentioned the confidence she gained from Ms Catia ’ s belief in her ability to pursue physics a year early .
“ I think it ’ s really ingrained in me that I am a lifelong learner who can achieve things if I put my mind to it , even doing physics a year early . Ms Catia ’ s belief in me continues to affect me today .”
“ Crofton House was instrumental in showing me my capacity and the extent of what I can get done when I put my mind to it ,” Katharine said . “ I owe a lot of my approach to learning and comfort with failing to CHS because it was such a safe and supportive environment .”
How do you think an all-girls environment impacted you ?
As a woman working in science , technology , engineering , and math ( STEM ), Katharine also noted how important it was to grow up and not feel the limitations of her gender through the Junior and Senior Schools .
“ I suspect that a lot of my confidence in being in male-dominated areas of STEM , for example , computer science , which I majored in , and wanting to pursue that at all , comes from being in an all-girls environment for so long .”
That said , Katharine also noted that the co-ed opportunities within Crofton House , including at debate events , prepared her for that transition to co-ed learning and working postgraduation .
Today , Katharine tries to give back as much as she can to all-girls environments , partnering with nonprofits like STEM Fellowship , a Canadian organization that provides student-driven experiential learning programs on analytics , research and scholarly communication . Katharine has organized girls ’ coding courses , accessible to high school students , through their programming — one of which is coming up this fall .
She also supported this past year ’ s CHS Capstone Projects , evaluating Grade 12 presentations .
“ It was still really nice to even just sit in on a Zoom call with people wearing that familiar uniform and seeing , in the background , those familiar halls , and running into some teachers who remember me and I remember them . I think that was my motivation , and I ’ m so grateful that I participated because it was so interesting !”
What ’ s next for you ?
“ I ’ m excited for where my mishmash of interests has taken me . I was fortunate to pursue both of these interests , computer science and medicine , for as long as I did and continue to , and only along the way did I realize that I didn ’ t have to choose necessarily . I could keep both of these things going , and they went very well hand in hand .”
Going forward , Katharine hopes to finish her PhD and then apply to medical school — ending up with an MD and PhD , and the option to practice medicine and research in her long-term career .
“ I want to be part of the team of people striving to advance medicine , but also a part of the team applying it to the real patient population .”
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