Interview with a Harlem Lacrosse Boarding School Student
Hakim Hicks joined Harlem Lacrosse's P.S. 76 program in its inaugural campaign last year. Since then, Hakim fell in love with the sport, was voted team captain twice and last summer was even selected to the New York City team that won the Empire State Cup in Hamilton, NY. A natural learner who has also won local chess tournaments, Hakim looked at a number of different schools before choosing Eaglebrook School, located in Deerfield, MA. and considered one of the best junior boarding schools in the country. Here, Hakim sits down to talk about the boarding school process and everything else in between.
Harlem Lacrosse: Why boarding school?
Hakim Hicks (HH): I’ve always had the dream of attending a big Ivy League school and being really successful. Even though I wanted these things, I wasn’t putting in the work needed to get to those places. When I found out I was a boarding school candidate I thought about how well prepared I will be going into college. Coming from a boarding school, I will learn how to be away from home for long periods of time, how to deal with people from different backgrounds, and how to be responsible for myself.
Harlem Lacrosse: What are your long-term goals there?
HH: I hope to learn how to adjust to new places and make friends with different kinds of people. I want to learn how to be more organized, which is important when going to college. I will focus on my academics because the better I do at school, the more opportunities I’ll have.
Harlem Lacrosse: How did Harlem Lacrosse help you through the process?
HH: Without Harlem Lacrosse, I would have never even applied to boarding schools. I most likely would have never tried as hard as I did to raise my grades in order to get into boarding school. If I went through the process by myself I would not have had the background information on schools like I did, and I would not have applied to schools that were the best fit for me. Harlem Lacrosse is the whole reason why I was accepted into boarding school.
