Rachel Harrington

Rachel Harrington–Abrams is a Berkeley International High School (BIHS) senior and one of many of our school’s exceptional students who is loved by all who encounter her. While at Berkeley High School, Rachel has gone above and beyond the responsibilities of a regular student. She met some of her best friends on the water polo and swim teams, of which she was a member of for all four years of her high school career. Also in this past year, she was the captain of the water polo team. Rachel says, “The first people I met at Berkeley High were from the water polo team … and by senior year, we were like a really close family.” She found that the water polo team provided a great place to go after school, not only to play, but for support from her friends. She also added that being a captain taught her about “responsibility and how to lead people respectfully and responsibly and how to rally a group together.” Rachel was also quite involved in the leadership program during her years at BHS. “Sophomore year I was in big–school leadership and I was the class president and then in junior and senior year, I was a part of the leadership body and we helped plan different events for BIHS and help bring the community closer together.”

She felt the leadership program was very successful in strengthening her learning community by bringing everyone closer to each other. Rachel said that she found BHS, “a very unique place to go to school,” and later added, “there are so many things that I learned from going to Berkeley High that I would not have learned at any other school.” One class that she is especially interested is her Theory of Knowledge class which is part of the IB program. Next year, she is going to Macalester College and hopes to double major in Psychology and International Studies. As she moves on from BHS, we wish her luck in her future endeavors and thank her for her contribution to our great school.

Jeff Liu had this to say about Rachel: “To me the thing that sets Rachel apart from other students is her deeply caring and compassionate nature. She has a huge heart and a sensitive soul that is able to share in the pains and joys of the people in her life as well as humanity in general. I personally feel blessed to be in her life and have been on numerous occasions a recipient of her care and concern.”