Transcript: Toussaint Miller on Building Community, Blending Passions, and Shaping the Future

Good morning, and welcome back to the show. We are here with Class of 21 alum, performer, composer, and science researcher, Toussaint Miller. How are you, Toussaint? I'm well, I'm well. Thanks for having me. I appreciate this. I'm interested to see what we talk about today. Yeah, thanks for taking the time to do this. I know you're busy. Well, to kick things off, can you take us back to your childhood in Cleveland? You know, what were you like as a kid? What was I like? I don't know. I was, well, the earliest memories I have of my childhood were definitely around, like, animals. I was a big Animal Planet kid. And so I played this game with my brother and grandfather growing up called What's My Favorite Animal? And so we would pretty much highlight or, like, give hints around, like, the habits. The animal lived in, like, what, like, was it a tundra? Was it a desert? Was it a, you know, like, grassland? And then give hints about, like, whether it was an herbivore or an omnivore until we kind of distilled it down to figure out what their animal was. And so that was, that was my, like, that was my focus when I was, like, eight, nine, ten. Like, PBS Kids, Animal Planet, that was my stuff. And then as I got older, I kind of lost the ecological interest as much. And then that sort of siphoned off into my interest in medical sciences. I, from, I think I was 13 or 14, my grandmother told me to read the book Gifted Hands by Dylan Carson, which, current politics aside, I guess I wouldn't. endorse that too much. But at the time, it was a really interesting and profound thing for a Black man to be getting so much laud and praise about his scientific advancements and medical, you know, prowess. And so I, from that, became really interested in becoming a physician and a surgeon. And, yeah, so that, that's, like, where my science interests lie. And then I was a musician in middle school. Well, I started my musicianship in middle school. So, you know, I, before US, went to this school called Chambers Elementary, which no longer is in existence. But at Chambers, we had to pick an instrument, or we had to, like, participate in the school band. And the options were flute, clarinet, trumpet, snare, or trombone. The flute was a little too dainty for me. So that was out. Clarinet sounded squeaky. I wasn't really messing with that. The drum, the snare drum was stupid to me because, like, why am I just going to play a snare drum? If I'm going to play an instrument, the drums, just give me the whole kit. Like, stop piecemealing the stuff. Trombone was a little too bulky. And so what was left was the trumpet. And I've pretty much kept up with my playing ever since. I played in the US. Jazz band. And then at Harvard, where I am going to graduate. And three weeks, I played in the Harvard Jazz Orchestra and gigged around Boston with friends and, you know, all of that jazz. You know, what's one of those, like, earliest moments when you realize that, like, you really love music or were, like, just really fascinated in kind of science? Or is there a specific moment where you realized that, like, both of them could kind of be kind of cool together? Yeah. So I, shortly after falling in love with music and developing, at least in an infancy stage, my musicianship, I read this article that was talking about music therapy and Alzheimer's. And it was looking at how, you know, Alzheimer's patients couldn't remember how to do tasks that they've done every day for decades. But, or their own names, but could remember, you know, songs to lyrics that they heard in high school, which, you know, if you're developing Alzheimer's in your late 60s, 70s, that was quite a way away. And so I was like, wait a minute, there's definitely some intrinsic therapeutic aspect to music that we are kind of overlooking, I guess, or not putting enough intention into figuring out. So that was the moment, I think, where I learned that medicine and music and art generally can coexist, and not only coexist, but form a very necessary nexus in order to research and find the cures for some diseases that are ailing so many people. You know, your experiences like playing music at U.S., you kind of mentioned that real quick. Were you, like, so involved with the jazz band, or were you just kind of playing for fun? Yeah, so at that point, I think, I don't know if it's changed, but when I was in high school, I had to, like, you had to do two credits of art. Is that still the case? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay, so because I was a musician, and because I liked the people who were in the jazz band, Mr. K was a big part of my high school career. I just started. I just stuck with it. I got in freshman year and just stuck with it because it counts as only a quarter of a credit. So, like, if you did four years, you would get the two. And so I was a pretty avid member of the jazz band, and it was a pretty salient part of my identity in high school, for sure. I applied to schools with an optional music portfolio just because that I enjoyed making that kind of music so much. And performing with my friends a great deal. So that was the extent of my musical expression in high school. It's obviously gotten a lot, it's obviously flourished a lot since leaving U.S. just because I had more opportunities and more space to sort of explore that interest of mine. But I think that without being a member of the jazz band, my time at U.S. would be completely different, for sure. Well, Tusana. When you were just 12 years old, you received the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award. You were the youngest person ever to receive this award. And, you know, at such a young age, being on stage at Severance Hall, being honored. Can you tell us how that happened and what kinds of community service you were doing to be honored so young? You guys really did your research. Oh, my gosh. This is so funny. I, yeah, I, I was, at that point, I... Well, at that point... Well, first of all, I come from a family where giving back in service is very important. So from a very young age, really, I was invested in making sure that I was, you know, being an active member of my community. At that moment, I was playing my horn that I, you know, recently picked up at nursing homes and elderly facilities, as well as starting what would eventually become the Chapters 4.0 Mentorship Program. Which seeks to do something very similar to the REACH Program, which is, you know, bridge the gap between, the intergenerational gap between Black men. So I, along with a few other peers of mine in high school, you know, were able to, you know, the program had been established. And... I think I was in it in, in a really defined way at that point. But my peers in high school on Saturdays, I think, the first and third Saturday of every month, would help out or, like, would mentor fifth graders from, or third... It was either third or fifth graders. I'm forgetting. But from the Warrensville Center, or the Warrensville City School District. And before that, it was the East Cleveland City School District. So from a very young age, service was very, was important. And when I got that award, it was mostly for, like, musical expression by way of community service. But then that obviously grew into something that was super important for me in high school as well. And I'd argue, hopefully, important for my peers who were also involved with it. Yeah. Well, that's amazing. And you've talked about your family, you know, mentioned them multiple times as being a big influence. Can you tell us a little more about what your family was like and the impact they had on you? Yeah, for sure. I, I grew up in a relatively small family. And they all live in Cleveland. So I was not, or most of them live in Cleveland. So, you know, and people like, oh, I'm going to my family reunion in North Carolina or in Texas or in Chicago. Um... That doesn't make sense when they name all states and then they name Chicago or Illinois. You know, and it's like 40, 50, 60 of us going to be there. I'm like, everybody's got on the T-shirts. I'm like, OK, well, all my family lives around the corner. So we're all here for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, all of it. And we're a dot. I consider family, my mom, my grandmother, my uncle, my cousin and my younger brother. So we are very close. Growing up, family was a very important thing for me. And it was my first practice of community. And because we were such a tight-knit, close group of individuals, I felt like I was raised in a home that didn't have many, like, secrets. Like, you know. My brother knew that he could tell me anything. I knew I could tell my mom anything. I knew I could tell my younger brother, my grandmother anything. And so, you know, family, I think, was incredibly important for me because it provided a very grounding, safe space. I also think I got my music taste from my mom and my grandmother, at least in the beginning. Um... You know, I was raised on a lot of jazz music. Ella Fitzgerald, Miriam Makeba, Sarah Vaughan. Not only jazz. I was raised on, you know, Sade and Jill Scott, Erykah Badu. And then from there, once I got to college, my music taste obviously expanded because I'm now getting influenced by different people that are coming from different places. And, you know, was able to open my worldview that way. But I think family is definitely what has influenced a lot of my one character and a lot of the way in which I see the world. And I guess through music, listen and interact orally with the world as well. Yeah. Well, shifting gears back to U.S. here. You transitioned from public school to U.S. in seventh grade. Yeah. You know, that must have been a big change for you. So, first of all, why did you choose to attend university school? And then second of all, what were your first impressions when you arrived? I, um... Let's see. That is such a long time ago. I have to... Like, it doesn't feel like all that long ago. But, like, when you contextualize, that was like, what, ten years ago? Nine years ago? Which is nuts. Um... I think... When I first... I remember shadowing and, you know, liking it. It was different because the school I went to before was co-ed. Obviously, U.S. is not. The school that I went to before was predominantly black. Obviously, U.S. is not. And so, it was a different shift culturally. But I wouldn't say it was, like, hard or easy. I mean, it was just what it was. I think that I made a... I made a good group of friends when I first got there. And those dynamics obviously morphed and evolved as I grew as a person and as I, you know, went through middle and then into high school. But I don't honestly remember all that many specific details about what my first interactions were like. Um... I think it was a... A natural shift. A natural shift in my academic maturation. You know, I wouldn't say I struggled too much academically. I think I was challenged in many ways. And I think that I was well prepared in other ways. So, I don't know. I think coming to U.S. offered a great deal of... Of exposure. Of access to things that I had not had before at my old school. But... And I'm glad that it happened. I just don't remember the specific details about, oh, like, I can point to this one thing that made me realize that U.S. was different than the others. Rather than the more salient things that I've already mentioned. You know, going to high school, what were your activities, kind of, interests like at the time? Would you kind of get involved with... I mean, you're... Yeah. Not new to U.S. You came into seventh grade. But you're still only two years into U.S. What was that like, kind of, that transition to high school? Yeah. The transition to high school was interesting. So, in middle school, I picked up tennis. And in ninth grade, I kept with it. But I was... For some reason, I got pulled to squash. And I think that was because of the fact that I was looking for a way to stay sort of in shape. Between... Between seasons. And squash is a winter sport. Spring is... I mean, tennis is a spring sport. And so, I had a friend who had played squash our ninth grade year. We were in the same class. And he said, you should just, like, come try out. If nothing more than to get some cardio in. I was like, all right. Let's do it. And so, I tried out. And I think... Now, the strokes and the movement are very different. But the base level athleticism required for both tennis and squash is very transferable. And so, I did okay for never picking up a squash racket. Got super interested in it. And wanted to get better at it. And so, I got a good group of guys. And we practiced on the weekends. We... You know. During, like, study halls, we would go down to the squash courts and hit. So much so, and so often, that I, you know, very quickly became eligible to play on the varsity team. And became the team captain my senior year. So, squash was definitely a new thing for me that was a very important shift in my development. I think that being a part of the U.S. jazz band as well was not a huge shift. But it was a very important one in that I started developing a sense of musicianship. I think it's very different. It's a very different thing to play an instrument and then to have a musicianship. And that, to me, means that you are not only playing the notes. But you understand the context of the notes quarterly as well as historically. You know, like, what era was this song written in? What other musical advancements were going around or were coming about during this time? What political, you know, struggle or, you know, achievement was happening when this song was written? And so, I think that when I got to the U.S. jazz band, I was like, you know what? When I got to U.S. and really started in 10th grade after a year of the jazz band or being in the jazz band, rather. I started developing a musicianship and understanding that context was so important to being not only a good musician who can play the notes. But who can make those feelings and the emotions that the composer or the writer of that song intended. And that was something that was digestible to the audience. And so, Squash was super important. The jazz band was super important. I think the Pembroke Society was also very important for me. Because obviously, it offered a very safe, fun, interesting, lovely space of affinity. And, you know, I appreciated that. It was under the leadership at the time of Miss Carol. And Mr. Lewis, Mr. James Lewis. And so, I think those are the... No, no, no, no. There's so much more. I was an Anderson Scholar. I was a Stenad Fellow. Science, obviously, at that time was really interesting. And I got super passionate about what I was telling you about earlier with Alzheimer's memory cognitive function. And music. French was also super important. I, like, maxed out on the French courses at U.S. After not being able to speak any in middle school, which was interesting. But I was super passionate about that. So, that was important. Well, now I'm, like, digging in the memory bank of things that I did. I was the head prefect. I was in Murray House. What else happened? I... If something else comes up, I'll let you know. But these are the things that, like, are on the tip of my tongue for sure. You know, one of the things you're getting to is kind of going to your junior year. You know, 2020 was a big year in many aspects. So, we'll kind of get to that. But one of the things it's also kind of big with is the movements like Black Lives Matter. You know, during your junior year, you started an initiative called A Conscious Community Conversation. Can you kind of tell us what this initiative was like? Why you started during the heart of these social injustices? Yeah. So, I think that was very necessary at the time because of the fact that there was a lot of political noise pollution that no one was able to... Or, like, that very few people were able to sift and distill through without feeling overwhelmed. And I wanted to form a space for U.S. students. Both, you know, Black, white, Asian, Native American that were able... So that they would be able to talk about these hefty and heavy topics in a controlled and safe environment openly and candidly. So, I, with the help of, I believe, all of my prefects, as well as my close friends, led conversations, I think, once a month about different political topics. Different, you know, emotionally charged current events. In order to help, you know, facilitate that dialogue and discussion. Without people feeling like they would be ostracized or demonized for having a certain political view or a certain outlook on the world. I think it's very important to have empathy. Especially when you're dealing with such, like, important and... I keep using this word, but heavy topics. Because that's the only way, I believe, that a good, productive, meaningful change can come about. And so, I started that in order to facilitate those discussions. I think that it's an organization... I guess it's a student organization that is needed more times than others. I think now it's really needed. I don't know if it's still in existence. But I think it should definitely make a resurgence. Because this political moment is particularly divisive. And it's capitalizing on people feeling divided. And people... Being reclusive and protective of their own echo chambers where they're not able to actually learn about other political or moral or social ideologies. And I think that's exactly why we need a forum to talk about, you know, differing and sometimes hard, you know, topics. In a way that is conducive to... Like, communal and equal growth from both sides. And understanding where they're coming from. So, that was the point of Conscious Community Conversations. And... Yeah. I think that's so important. Like you said, all these topics are emotionally charged. And when they come up in normal conversation, it just goes straight to being emotional. But, you know, we do have an events club. We have... In our history classes, we have discussions about it. But I think that's really important. Sick. That's important. As long as they're happening. That's what matters, I think. Yeah. For sure. Well... Do you guys think it's enough? What's your... Yeah. Do you think that the forums and the spaces that you just mentioned, are they enough? I don't know. I feel like sometimes, I think as a community, we can come together more and talk about some of the things that are going on in our world. I think we kind of had... I've had a couple of classes. I think mostly in the middle school, I can think of, where we talked just mainly focused on current events. And those are some of the classes that, for me personally, kind of stayed with me the longest. I can think about those conversations a lot more. But, I don't know. I mean, looking at high school, I feel like we're even more matured. So, looking to have those conversations in kind of a serious way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Really utilize those conversations in kind of a serious way, but also kind of share different information, and keep just a good, as you said, conscious community conversation. I feel like it's kind of evident we need. I mean, to answer your question, if it's enough, I don't think it can really ever be enough. But I think we would benefit from having... At the current Events Club, I think we get maybe 10 students, but I think if having a larger scale, with more people around, I would go that far. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. perspectives um would definitely be helpful yeah fair fair enough is society of skeptics still a thing it it kind of stopped last year so okay yeah okay that was also pretty important for me i remember especially because i went to high i was in high school during the during the um um into the Biden administration in like the beginning of the Trump administration obviously i was in middle school into high school and so that was super important in you know facilitating discussions politically um and i remember going and having a lot of fun and being able to talk about some pretty um you know like i say emotionally charged things but in a way that was intriguing and promoted dialogue and in a in a non-combative way you know yeah so bring it back that was great for me yeah well we just had a class um in our history class or you know in Israel and Palestine and that conflict not necessarily the current events but the history of it and i just finished up my essay on how you know we think it's just like one word complicated but then you look back and it's goes back to traceable events that happened and it's not as complicated maybe as we may think so it's important to indicate on those things it is it is indeed yeah yeah you know kind of going back to some of your high school experience one of the things that we never got to personally feel because we were in fifth grade at the time but you know 2020 was kind of oh my god right so as a junior right going through the processes of colleges and many other of the kind of toughest parts of high school must be really hard i mean kind of stuck at home during the pandemic so what was it like to be a junior then and do you feel like you missed out on anything did i miss out on anything um no i actually i actually gained a lot i i was i was so i think about that actually kind of often like okay if covid never happened what will my life look like and how would it have been different and what sort of challenges would i have faced i think that the pandemic and the push to online schooling offered a very necessary um very timely for me at least pause um and reflection period um that was was pretty necessary um at least in my uh growth at that time um and so i am very happy that we not very happy that might sound like ridiculous but i i am content with the way that things happen um especially like you know i i'm not i'm not i'm not i'm not i'm not i'm not i'm not i'm not i'm not i'm not i'm not i'm not the worst but i'm like a okay test taker i'm not the the you know i'm not the best at it and so like because colleges went test optional that year i was like wow this is great because now i don't have to take the act or the sat look at that um and other more salient to in my head and therefore in my application parts of those college applications were able to be highlighted just a little bit more seriously um like my extracurriculars like my gpa um and so i was you know i was i was cool and like i don't know i i know that it was a time that that was filled with a lot of loss um and a lot of you know pain um and while i did have you know familial struggle during the time i think that um it it offered a great deal for me in my academic journey my you know um spiritual and my like intellectual journey as well and so i um yeah i don't think i lost all that much honestly you know by senior year you kind of talked about real quick but you became head prefect why did you want to be head prefect was it like a long-term goal of yours or did someone kind encourage you to run for that role yeah i think so head prefect if i'm not mistaken was an appoint or an elected position amongst prefects and i think the prefects just all like voted on a head prefect um and i was the one that was voted head prefect but i didn't think of running in like the preliminary round to become a prefect period um until i was sort of you know motivated to by the prefects and i was like i don't know some friends to do it like like why not okay i was like okay well let's do it let's see what happens um and then that's how that happened i would never i would i would not change a thing i think that being um a prefect was was very important for me because it allowed me to gain some very necessary um leadership experience um and it allowed me to to do um and enact some very important in my view um you know pedagogy at least with conscious community conversations and then bringing um my specific uh vantage to um you know the u.s administration so i think becoming a prefect was was very important in my you know trajectory um becoming head prefect kind of just happened but i think it was a good thing that it happened um so yeah are you guys thinking about becoming prefects when you're seniors uh ironically we both are in the same house and both want to become head or both so oh okay well good luck may the best man win i guess thank you but i feel that you both will be amazing um in any position that you pursue you know it sounds like kind of by senior year you were a high achieving senior year you were a senior year you were a high achieving senior year you were a high achieving senior year you were a high achieving senior year you were a high I mean, you did all these different things. But one of the things that people experience when you have so many different responsibilities is kind of burnout. So did you ever feel like this is too much or like what did you kind of do to relax or have fun during your busy schedule? Yeah. The funny thing about that is everything I did, I thoroughly enjoyed. So it didn't feel like I was doing all that much work. Like the well, you know, prefect meetings were early in the morning. So I guess during those times, I was like, why did I do this? But like being on the squash team, the most enjoyable experience I've ever had, like some of my closest friends to date have were on the squash team with me. You know, being in the jazz band was beautiful. I was able to develop a very strong musicianship because of it. I was able to develop a really interesting. Outlook and perspective on the world because of my understanding of the context in which jazz was created. And, you know, French was something that I was going to do anyway. Might as well enjoy it. Like everything I did was something that was interesting to me. And I'm the type of person that is not content unless I have my hands in a few pots and a few different pots. And so each of my interests was being piqued simultaneously. So I was never bored. I was never like walking. Why is this happening to me right now? So I was I was never burnt out, I don't think. And I don't think I ever felt a sense of burnout. I probably at times felt that, you know, what I was doing was important and I wanted it to go well and thus would put some added pressure on myself to make sure it went well. But I don't think it was ever burnout or fatigue or anything like that. Yeah, well, Charlie and I collaborate on a lot of stuff. Yeah. Well, Charlie and I collaborate on a lot of stuff. And, you know, one of our rules of thumb is like, if we don't enjoy it, we're not going to do it. Like, we're not going to do stuff just for the college application. But I know a lot of students are like, well, I have to do this, put on the college application. What's your advice for students who may be pressured to do things just for the college application? I would say, well, don't because that's going to be very easy to read in your application. Like, you know, let's just say it's junior year and you're like, oh, I got to put something on. My college application, what is it going to be? Don't, you know, do anything that would not be something that you would talk about just randomly with an Uber driver or someone over coffee or anything like that, because it will read as something that you're not passionate or interested in long term or it will read as something that isn't, you know, going to be a salient part of your identity as a college student. So I would say do things that you're actually interested. Do things that make you excited about. And then from there, time will just do what time does and move. And so by the end of it, you're like, oh, I spent a year or two or three or four years doing this one thing. And it didn't really feel like it because this is something that I just liked doing so much. So I would say don't do things just for the bit. Do do them like because you want to. Yeah. Well, I met Stahl. The interesting work that you had with school. I know there must have been some fun or funny moments. So what's one of your favorite or funniest moments from U.S.? And if you can't pinpoint one moment, what are some of the spaces that you had those moments in? Oh, great question. Great question. I can I pinpoint? I don't know. I don't know if I can pinpoint one. Definitely. The squash court had some crazy, funny. Conversations, jokes, bits. I remember. I don't know if it's still a thing, but like the lower commons, it was called. I don't know if it was called Monkey Island or if that was in the middle school. But oh, my gosh, that was just like the funniest area in the school. If you wanted to have a good laugh, you go to the lower commons. There would always be something ridiculous and silly going on. Where else? I think Dr. Dyke's chemistry classes were super funny. And I really liked him a lot. Mr. Fallon's AP lit and laying classes were also great.

And yeah, I think those were the most salient spaces and events. Or not really events, but the more salient spaces where the funny, interesting conversations and jokes would occur. The Pembroke Society meetings obviously were a riot. I remember those quite fondly. Not exactly what was said, but just sort of the energy of the space was hilarious. You know, kind of like going to after your graduation, you know, your next step was Harvard, right? I mean, this may be a hard question, but why Harvard? You probably had a lot of options at the time. Why did you kind of choose Harvard College? And what did you end up officially kind of pinpointing your major down to? Yeah, I after. So when I was applying to school, my dream since I was in middle school, at least, was to go to Georgetown. Georgetown was the only school that I actually ended up visiting before the pandemic hit. And you couldn't visit colleges anymore. And, you know, there are some professors that I was able to meet when I was younger who were at Georgetown, who I admired a lot. And so the goal had always just been Georgetown, Georgetown, Georgetown, Georgetown. Two weeks before I submitted my Common App, I randomly, for some reason, decided to apply to Harvard. I don't know why. I don't know what compelled me. I don't know what compelled me. I don't know what compelled me to do that. And I was nervous, so I didn't tell anybody I was doing that. Everybody thought I was still applying to Georgetown. And so I cooked up my application, sent it right before the winter break, heard back that I had gotten in, and didn't apply anywhere else. Because I was like, this is it. This is kind of the goal for me at this stage. So why would I? I racked my brain about what, you know, cartoon character I most, you know, related to. You know, like these stupid, ridiculous college application questions that no one really has answers to. I'm not going to do that anymore. I am set. I'm set. So Harvard was actually the only school I applied to, if you think about it in that way. And so it, I guess, was meant to be. And when I got here, I declared that I was going to study neuroscience. And then I realized halfway through my junior year that I had enough credits to also double major in music. So that is what I'll be graduating with in three weeks. Now, congrats. I know you're now like in the past three weeks. What are your plans after Harvard? Are you headed straight to medical school, maybe with the neurosurgeon dream? Take a gap? Yeah. What's the next step after undergrad? And I mean, even looking way forward, where do you kind of see yourself in 10 years? 10 years. Oh, my gosh. That's going to send me into a spiral. I don't know. I do know, though, that next year I will be in England. I will be pursuing a master's at Oxford or University of Oxford in their history department, looking at the history of the programs. It's called history of science, medicine and technology, where I'll be doing some research on the nexus between medicine and visual art that has very recently become a very important topic for me. And so that's what I'll be doing next year. I literally got that idea a couple months ago over my winter break because I was like, OK, I kind of want to do a gap year going straight through to medical school. And so I was like, OK, let's just apply places. So I applied to Harvard again for their master's for a master's program at their medical school, Columbia, their bioethics program. And this one ended up getting into all three. But the reason that I chose Oxford was because of the fact that it would give me a lot of space to mold the research that I really wanted to do. And it would, you know, offer an international moment like all of my friends have either done some of these crazy semesters or summers abroad. And I've been stuck in a lab because I'm pre-med. So this is going to be a really good time. And I'm excited for the next year for sure. But that means that I will be applying to medical school next cycle, matriculating in 2027 and graduating in 2031. So how many years is that? That's the next five years. And then the next five years after that, I'll be in potentially a residency program at some, you know, university or some hospital. So I, yeah, it was kind of easy. There's the 10 years. Unless something crazy happens where this bastard sort of leads to, you know. More, you know, serious research, which I doubt it would. But if that happens, then I guess that 10-year plan changes a little bit. But right now, that's the layout. Yeah. I mean, that's amazing. We wish you good luck. Thank you. As someone who's graduated U.S., what advice would you give to current university school students like Charlie and I right now on how they can make the most of their time at U.S.? To kind of set themselves up for success at the next level? Yeah, for sure. I'd say have fun. Do things, like I said earlier, that make you fulfilled and that, you know, provide a sense of content. I think that that's really important so that you feel that when your time is, when your time has come to leave U.S. and to shake up the world elsewhere, that you feel like you took full advantage of the resources offered to you in high school. You know, just value friendships. I think U.S. does a really good job of instilling this. But your network and connections that you form in high school are super important. Those that you form in college, I'd argue, are even more important. So just make sure that you're... An active member of the community, which is very easy to do because there's only like 100 people per class. But I think that's an important thing that sometimes people might overlook or that might be eclipsed by, you know, the academic or extracurricular grind. You know, just be present and be an active member of your community. Make U.S. a better place than when you found it and when you got there. And if you do that, you'll take full advantage of everything that place has to offer. And I think that you will, you know, your mark will indeed be indelible. You know, I know we're getting to our last question, but this is something we ask all of our guests. What is your why? You know, with everything you do, whether it be in medicine, the arts, or just making a change in the community, what is the core driving force that kind of gets you up in the morning? What always keeps you going? My why, my why. What's my why? I don't know. My why, what am I motivated by? I'm motivated by so many things, and that's why it's hard for me to like pinpoint one. I think if I were to do this like long CVS list of whys, one of them would definitely be, you know, building community. With my peers and with, you know, the people who I just see on a day-to-day. I think being, as I just said, with the advice to current U.S. students,

being an active and contributing member to any community, whether it's a familial community, community, whether it's an extracurricular community, whether it's the community that you go home to every night, it is really important. And it's the way in which meaningful change is enacted. So I think that's one of my whys. Another one of my whys is curiosity. Like I'm a very curious person. And so I like to learn. And I like to know different things about different sectors, which is why I surround myself in large part with people who don't study what I study. Like a lot of my friends are like either social studies or history of art and architecture or government or, you know, music or not music so much, but like, um, what public policy, because of the fact that I like to learn different things. And, you know, what? Okay, so I'm a neuroscience major, what are we going to talk about, like, neurons and the brain? Like, I already know that, like, you know, as much as I know, so what are we gonna what am I going to learn from those interactions? I like learning about, you know, policy, I like learning about, you know, what makes a good quote, artwork, what makes a long lasting, work of art. I like to learn about, you know, why the recent ruling on the Supreme that the Supreme Court just came out with was, you know, a bad one or a good one. And so like, I like surrounding myself with people who will educate me and who I will learn from. So curiosity is another why. Friendship is another why for very obvious reasons. And that goes quite, well with my my first why. So I think those might be the two most important ones. Like I said, way earlier in our interview, community service is also and leadership in that way is also very important. So those are my whys, if that was coherent, I felt like I was rambling. It wasn't I don't know if I gave, like being concrete, but that those are those are my whys. Yeah, well, we got a different answer from everyone. So we love asking that one. All right. Well, Charlie, we got one more fun one for you. OK, so let's do it. It was our our seniors put on their senior prank and because they didn't do Halloween this year, the seniors threw their own Halloweens. They decorated the entire school and like all dressed up in Halloween costumes. But when you were a senior, do you remember what your senior prank was? Oh, I knew you were about to ask that. And I don't. I think what did we do? I remember being pretty like tame. I saw on the U.S. Instagram that you guys like flipped tables and chairs over, which is really funny. But I don't remember. Well, I want to say this is either my year or the year above me. They drove a car into like the the what's it called? What's the the green space right outside of the lower commons?

Yeah. Does it have a name? I don't I don't know if it has a name. OK, well, whatever that whatever it's called there and did nothing else. I don't think that was all that, you know, radical. So we obviously didn't do anything memorable. But this this was cool. This was good. What you guys did this year? Well, you saw it's been great having you on the show today. Thank you so much for taking the time to kind of share your story. This is us and insights to our listeners. Thank you so much for tuning in. And we'll hope you'll join us next Wednesday for the next episode of Late Start Show. Thanks, Toussaint. Of course. Thanks so much.