Haley Kerr

Senior Spotlight: Haley Kerr

Name, age, grade, city of residence

Haley Kerr, 18, 12th grade, Morgan Hill

Grade you started at MMS

Sixth grade

What inspires you?

One thing that definitely inspires me is my parents. I really appreciate the amount of time and work that they put in to make sure we were brought up correctly and are always happy and healthy.

What is your favorite subject in school, and why?

Math. It’s always been something that came naturally. My dad has always loved numbers. I’ve always been something I was able to excel in and it was fun to see that I could do something well.

If you had the power to change one thing in the world, what would it be?

One issue that I have always been bothered by is how much disease there is everywhere. The thing that comes to mind is how many people in the United States get cancer. It’s definitely a hard issue to fix but I would love to be able to work on that and help in the effort to solve the problem, even if only in a small way.

What is your dream job and why?

I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. I’m leaning towards becoming an OB-GYN or pediatrician. I’ve always enjoyed helping people. I was always interested in people’s symptoms. I have a lot of anxiety when it comes to health, so I’d love being in a wing of the hospital that sees more happiness rather than death.

What are your three favorite things? 

  1. Family
  2. Friends
  3. Helping people, and being able to be there for my friends and family when they need it.

Favorite book:

“Call Me by Your Name” by André Aciman

What do you want to do after high school?

I am going to Santa Clara University. I don’t have a decided major yet,but I am planning to go on a pre-health path and study something like biology or biomedical engineering.

Something that makes you smile:

My friends. Spending time with my friends. My friends are the people that know how to make me laugh no matter what’s going on. Especially with quarantine, I love how happy they make me.

A favorite MMS memory – and why?

My freshman year on my first ever rafting trip I was very nervous and one of the nights I got really homesick and [former MMS faculty member] Nate Rockhold sat with me and told me that he gets homesick too. I think that’s very specific to Mount Madonna, because teachers are not always as invested in students at other schools.

One of my other favorite memories was watching the sun rise with my whole class on the first Friday of senior year.

Who inspires you and why?

Besides my parents, whom I already mentioned, I am very inspired by my older sister. She has been my best friend since the day I was born and always wanted to take care of me when I needed anything. Now, she is in college and following her dreams and I am so proud of her and inspired when I see how much work she puts into her future. Also, since I want to go down a path that requires a lot of care for others, it is an inspiration to see how much she cares about me and how much she puts into making sure that I know that.

###

Alumna Renata Massion (’15) interviewed Haley for this spotlight feature.