Chad Gerson

Sycamore School was and is a wonderfully supportive environment. It encourages the intellectual curiosity and critical thinking skills that are so important in today’s professional world. Sycamore prepared me to thrive in the rigorous academic environments I have subsequently entered.

I attended Sycamore from its founding in 1985 through eighth grade, when I graduated in 1991. I then attended North Central High School. At North Central, I won the State Academic Decathlon. I was on the Science Olympiad Team which placed 10th in the nation. I participated in the Brain Game, Spell Bowl, and Academic Super Bowl teams. I was chosen to attend the Research Science Institute at MIT. I was a student announcer and a member of the Shakespeare Club. I was a member of the National Honor Society. I graduated in 1995 with honors.

At Indiana University I was elected to the student government, was a columnist and editor of the Indiana Daily Student, and was elected to the National Residence Hall Honorary, and made the Dean’s List. I was the political director of the Woman’s Student Association (Yes, I am male, but gender equality is everyone’s business!) I represented IU and was named regional all-star in the College Bowl. I worked as a resident assistant, a laboratory assistant in the psychology department, and undergraduate teacher intern on campus. During the summers, I was a laboratory assistant at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis and a laboratory assistant in the department of biology at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I graduated with honors in 1999 with a B.S. in biology and a B.S. in psychology, with minors in mathematics and computer science.

After college, I moved to Hong Kong where I lived for one year mastering conversational Cantonese, and teaching English in the Times College High School. I also edited secondary-level English and science textbooks for Asian markets, as an employee of Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

I entered the University of Chicago Law School in 2002. While in law school, I was a research assistant for two professors. During the summer, I clerked for the City of Chicago Department of Law. I researched and wrote motions in torts cases, prosecuted offenders in traffic court, and assisted with depositions and arbitrations. I have accepted a job as a Law Clerk in the chambers of Michael J Reagan in the US District Court in St. Louis, Missouri. I would like to follow this two-year clerkship with government service, private practice, or joining the faculty of a law school. It would be exciting to become a judge!

My hobbies are hockey, Scrabble, chess, reading, and trivia-type contests. I play hockey recreationally. I am a referee for USA Hockey, where I work with youth and adult leagues. In the future, aside from my law career, I hope to have a family and be active in my community and in charitable organizations.

Sycamore School contributed to my emotional and social development. Everything I have done since graduating from Sycamore was built on the foundation laid there. Sycamore’s teachers are personally committed to the health and success of each student as well as to the Sycamore community. Parental involvement has always been very strong, which is crucial to the success of any school. I frequently think how fortunate I am to have had the opportunity to attend such a fine school.