After the band played Miles Davis’ Seven Steps to Heaven, and an effusive introduction from the head of the school, Window Snyder stands in front of a hall filled with around 800 students at her old high school to receive an alumni award. Some of the students have a plastic spoon stuck to their noses, part of an end-of-the-year traditional school game — basically a game of tag — for seniors called “Assassin.” Most of them have their eyes set on the special guest.
Snyder is emotional. She hesitates, and has a hard time starting her speech. Once she does, she opens up about how much she struggled when she got here, to Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, after leaving her mom and her life in California back in 1989.
At one point, Snyder recalls, her advisor asked her: “Are you sure this is the right place for you? Maybe you will be happier back home, somewhere else.”
But Snyder was sure, and it paid off.
“I never worked so hard for ...
