Catherine Ward (A’14) grew up in New Bern, North Carolina, and as she was finishing middle school, she began investigating academic opportunities beyond her eastern NC hometown.  When she was 13, Catherine toured Salem Academy and recalls being impressed by the students she met.

“The girls who hosted me in their dorm room and took me to their classes appeared enthusiastic about their coursework. The teachers cultivated stimulating classroom discussion. It was the kind of academic culture I craved,” Catherine said. “The students were welcoming and struck me as mature, living away from home at such a young age. They came from various regions, and they seemed down-to-earth. I could see myself thriving by learning from and alongside them. My parents agreed. When I received the Sisters Merit Scholarship, which covered my tuition, room, board, and international travel, it felt too good to be true.”

Catherine applauds Salem Academy’s staff for supporting young women as they explore all possible interests.  She said teachers at Salem encouraged her in each subject that she studied while at the Academy, allowing her to thrive in a range of curricular and extracurricular activities.

“Though humanities and social science courses came most naturally to me, Salem supported my interest in attending the North Carolina Governor’s School as a natural sciences student in the summer between my junior and senior year because I wanted to spend that time growing in a different academic area,” she said. “Theater and service-based endeavors were my extracurricular passions, but I also played on the field hockey team. Trying a new sport when I started high school put me out of my comfort zone, but I learned to love it, largely because my teammates and coach encouraged me to keep improving each season.”

“When I had an idea for a new initiative, Salem staff assisted my plans to enact it, and peers helped me make it happen,” Catherine added. “Whether it was creating a new service project or starting a Model UN team with one of my dearest friends, Salem supported me. Salem staff and friends helped me be the best version of myself in each area of my life. Few schools can boast such a thing.”

Today, Catherine lives in western Pennsylvania and works as a federal law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals.  As a working adult, she still enjoys sharing her experiences while studying at Salem Academy.

“I particularly appreciated learning from my peers’ life experiences. Having grown up in a small, relatively homogenous region, I was captivated by my classmates’ stories about growing up in other areas of the nation or abroad. I learned a great deal about Chinese, Korean, German, and Spanish culture through close friends who shared their stories with me. And, further enhancing my understanding of other cultures, the Sisters Merit Scholarship offered me the opportunity to travel abroad during Salem’s January term, learning more about world history through the process.”

Catherine fondly remembers her time at Salem Academy, including two of her favorite activities outside the classroom: theater and Model UN.

“I thoroughly enjoyed playing Mollie Ralston in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. It was my favorite role as a high school student, made better by the fact that I played opposite my dear friend Amelia Garner (A’14),” she said. “Playing off her terrific acting skills while being directed by the incredible Kerry Lawson made each rehearsal and each show a ball.”

“I loved every Model UN competition I attended with Mary Beth Browne Hopping (A’15). She remains a close friend, and I have enjoyed watching her grow from competing with me at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Model UN conference to running the conference while she attended UNC to now supporting high school students in Model UN competitions through her work,” Catherine added. “It is also rewarding knowing that the Model UN club we started together at Salem continues to compete.”

While giving Salem Academy much of the credit for preparing her for college, Catherine also appreciates how the Academy helped foster her current law career.

“Salem Academy supports students’ academic and professional growth while also helping them cultivate lifelong friendships. For example, Salem Academy’s January Term supported my interest in my current career. I am a lawyer, and I spent my senior year January Term interning for an attorney,” she said. “I had the opportunity to observe her work on civil and criminal matters, and I realized I could picture myself advocating for clients and engaging in complex litigation. Salem gave me the tools to research, write, and interact professionally in a law office while just a high school student.”

Catherine has good advice to offer to families and young students who are considering study at Salem Academy:

“Salem supported my development as a social science researcher. My excitement for social science research began at Salem when I worked on my junior and senior year research papers and ultimately my Chapel Talk, a presentation about my senior year research that each student delivers to the school,” Catherine added. “Following my graduation from the Academy in 2014, I attended Duke University as a Benjamin N. Duke Scholar. While there, the Duke University Kenan Institute for Ethics interviewed me about how my high school experience colored my undergraduate research. Salem taught me the value of cultural exchange and educational opportunity.”

She said the many lessons she learned at Salem Academy continue to impact her life.

“The strong high school education I received, while I was surrounded by students of different backgrounds, indirectly contributed to my undergraduate enthusiasm for supporting primary and secondary education opportunities for diverse populations,” she said. “I became very involved in research and volunteer work related to education equity. Following my time at Duke University, I matriculated to the University of Cambridge as a Rotary Global Grant Scholar, where I continued to research education equity, focusing my work on refugee and asylum-seeking populations.”

“Salem prepared me for a professional life in which I seek work that excites me and taught me to never back down from a challenge,” Catherine said. “Salem showed me that women can do anything men can do and what lifelong friendship means. The Academy guided me in how to embrace mentorship and how to mentor others. Salem Academy gave me a meaningful high school experience, and for that I am grateful.”