Isabelle Ross
- HMI Semester 38 (Spring 2017)
- Holton Arms School / Hun School of Princeton 2018
- United States Naval Academy 2022
What does HMI mean to you?
HMI is the most special community that I have ever been a part of — a community that fully embraced me and also wholly challenged me. HMI was my first experience away from home and in an entirely new state and part of the country. Growing up “inside the beltway” in Bethesda, MD where local news is national news, HMI gave me a profoundly different perspective as to what local really is in a setting that is both breathtaking and unique. My daily routine continues to mimic several aspects of my days at HMI. I still start most of my days with a run outside, I frequently use map and chart reading skills in my job, and I continue to telemark ski when I can. In addition to providing me with a family of classmates and new hobbies, HMI afforded me the opportunity to learn and flex leadership skills that I use every day and will carry me through the rest of my life.
And what are you up to these days?
After leaving HMI in 2017 and graduating high school in 2018, I attended the United States Naval Academy. I graduated with a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering with honors and was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy in 2022. I moved to Charleston, SC to complete the Navy Nuclear Power pipeline where I studied the rigorous 6 months of nuclear power school and 6 months on a moored training ship in the Cooper River at prototype. I currently serve as a nuclear submarine officer in the U.S. Navy and am stationed in Groton, CT. As the Chemistry and Radiological Controls Assistant leading the Reactor Laboratories Division, I am responsible for maintaining chemistry in the nuclear propulsion plant as well as taking radiological controls to minimize radiation exposure to the ship’s crew and to the environment. In my free time, I play on a Navy hockey team and coach a girls U14 hockey team.
Why do you choose to support HMI philanthropically?
It is an honor to give back to the community that gave me such an incredible and transformative experience during my semester at HMI. I want future students to be able to experience the same in beautiful, functional new classrooms and facilities with new backpacking and skiing equipment. Additionally, I want to ensure that HMI is able to hire the best teachers and staff as possible and be able to afford them with the benefits and support that they need, such as faculty housing. Whether it was dancing in the kitchen while cleaning up after cook crew, collecting snow samples for science projects, going into town on a Saturday afternoon, or being out in the wilderness on expedition, the HMI experience was truly invaluable. I want as many students as possible to be able to experience the same joy that I felt at HMI.
This article originally appeared in the 2024 Fall Newsletter/Impact Report