HANSON – Many high school valedictorians would envy an acceptance to Harvard or MIT as they plan their college career. Hanson’s Noah Roberts was accepted to both – plus a handful of others he was considering.
As his mortar board décor indicated during the Friday, June 2 commencement exercises at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, MIT won out. It didn’t seem like a difficult decision for him to make because Roberts knows where he wants to go, and the most efficient way to get there.
His inspiration in studying engineering is the desire to work in an arena that helps make a change for the better in the world.
“There’s so much that needs to be changed in the world – that’s blatantly obvious,” he said. “But there’s no way I could do everything I want to do.”
The energy crisis and global warning led him to decide – citing the potential for an impact on class level and therefore political stability in different countries.
“It all stems from this energy issue and it’s really scary for the future, which is why I personally want to work toward and feel that I’m in a position now, that I can work toward,” he said, saying the praise he’s received for his accomplishments makes him a bit uncomfortable. “I’m just doing my best. I’m not doing anything special.”
Life wasn’t always so certain for him and his younger brother, Cody, as Noah candidly outlined in his emotional valedictory address to his classmates and their families.
“Over the course of my life, I have been surrounded by a variety of different expectations, all stemming from external circumstances,” he said. “As a little kid, not much was expected of me, as growing up in a household of mental illness and drug abuse generally is not the best baseline for a successful academic career.”
But he had a strong support system to help him along that journey.
“Trust me, I know that there is no such thing as a ‘normal’ family situation, but make sure to give the ones that you see as family, whether by blood or by bond, an extra-long hug today,” he advised his classmates. “As for me, my gratitude will always begin and end with my nana and brother. Nana, my entire being will be eternally grateful for the numerous sacrifices you have made for us: from delicious breakfasts every morning, to staying up late to make sure I get home safe, even after I arrive 30 minutes later than I said I would, to always being right somehow (which doesn’t seem very fair to me), you have always been there for me, and I genuinely don’t know where I would be without you, I love you nana. As for Cody, thank you for being my rock; through thick and thin you have stuck with me. If I could offer you any advice, it would be quite simple: keep your head up, you have great things ahead of you.”
In the audience there were tears from family members his grandmother Carol Sherwood called their village.
About two weeks before graduation, Noah and his grandmother, spoke with the Express about his already lofty achievement of so many high-profile college acceptances, what guides him and his plans for the future.
“I don’t know how I was in that situation,” he said of the Harvard/MIT decision. “A lot of it had to do with my major, since I want to do more like engineering, mechanical engineering, things with energy.”
His grandmother, whom he calls Nana, was a big booster for MIT as well.
The campus environment and an “ambiance for wanting to innovate for the better,” which greatly attracted him to the school.
“MIT is a better engineering school,” Sherwood said. “I think we all get caught up in the ‘Harvard! Oh, my gosh, I got accepted. That’s where I should go.’ But that may not be the best fit.”
She noted that her grandson was also accepted to Tufts University (his third option), Northeastern, and Worcester Polytechnic Insittute.
“They’re all good schools, and they’re getting harder and harder every year to get accepted,” she said.
“It’s just tough,” Roberts said. “I did a lot of research into admissions and the ease of application is [better] nowadays, that it’s more difficult because so many people are applying.”
Where once 5,000 or so high school seniors might have applied for a given year’s places at MIT, these days there might be closer to 30,000 applicants, he said.
“And each of those students is doing a lot more things,” he said. “They’re taking advantage of more opportunities within their own high schools that it really makes it more difficult for admissions decisions.”
While he may never know what tipped the scales in his favor at either Harvard or MIT, Roberts said they look for “actual people,” as opposed to students stacking their resume with activities geared toward making that good first impression.
“He’s very big into service,” Sherwood said. “It’s huge, and I think that’s what a lot of them are looking for, too – what else are you going to do?”
Roberts added that, while service is important, it can’t just be baseline.
“Do you do this with some type of passion, or why do you do this?” he said. “It’s so easy to just join National Honor Society and just put it as a resume filler.”
He belonged to the NHS as well as the English Honor Society, the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society and the Science Honor Society. He was also a member of the School Committee’s Student Advisory Council, whose members surveyed students at the elementary and middle schools about the issue of school start times, which the committee has been debating this year. He’s also done volunteer work with the Project 351 program since he was named a student ambassador at Hanson Middle School in 2019 and has participated in the town’s Memorial Day events.
“They’ve all been just fun and kind of shaping who I am,” he said, foreshadowing the theme of his valedictory titled “Who are you?” [See special section for text].
At WHRHS, he’s also been a class officer, culminating as president of the Class of 2023, as well as joining other school clubs [robotics and the Environmental Club and sports teams such as track “to fill the time” and meet people, making a lot of friends along the way.
“I think the admissions people are getting better and better at looking beyond just what’s written on the paper and trying to just see that there’s an actual person trying to get into the school and would they fit in this environment?” he said.
“They could have put it in the wrong pile,” he joked. “I’ll never know.”
He would have a hard time convincing his grandmother that kind of a mistake was even remotely possible.
Sherwood, a cafeteria employee at Indian Head School, raised Noah and Cody since they were small.
“It took a community,” she said adding that the Hanson schools could not have been a better help with her raising of the boys.
“It’s going to be very hard when my next one graduates next year, because I will have been raising children for 50 years,” she said. “My daughter [Noah’s mother] had some mental health issues and I had temporary custody for many, many, many, many years [before the] judge said, ‘no more temporary.’ It was never a question – of course.”
She credits Noah with being a very hard worker, who has been focused on what he wants and what it will take to get there.
“He knew that I didn’t have anything for him to go to college on,” she said. “I told him a long time ago, ‘you’re going to have to do it yourself,’ and he did. … I know I’m prejudiced, but I know there’s nothing, in my eye, that you can’t accomplish if you really want it and put your mind to it and try hard – and he is a perfect example because he gives and he gives and he gives, no matter what the school asks of him.”
Sherwood said he really does want to make a change in the world. And she’s certain he will.
Roberts is the first to admit he is lucky in many respects, and there are other students working equally hard, who just don’t have the same opportunities with which he has been gifted.
He said he’s matured through these experiences from an introvert to more of an extrovert.
“I feel comfortable talking to people and just becoming more interested in both people and the world around me, that it’s a lot easier to spark a conversation,” he said. “It’s almost your social muscle and you have to train it.”
Project 351 was a key tool in that maturation.
“I don’t know where he is a lot of the time until I call the school.” Sherwood said.
“Google Calendar is a blessing,” he said. Admitting that he over-committed last year to the point where it was detrimental to his health. “This year, I’ve learned to schedule a lot better and prioritize.”
Sherwood said deciding what to let go was the hard part.