As we approach the end of the 2025 school year, this year’s graduating seniors are hard at work on their senior projects. A senior project is a graduation requirement that must include some service. Seniors often partner up to address an issue locally or in the broader community.
Taylor Forster ‘25 is “exploring the differences between New Religious Movements and Cults” for her senior project. “I’ve always thought cults were fascinating” Forster states, “from seeing every cult movie ever made to reading about the dialect of cults.” She thinks it’s crazy “how people could so drastically change everything they once believed in, and made it [her] mission to understand them.” Currently, Forster plans on traveling to visit two different cults. “One in Colorado or California,” depending on where she chooses to visit, and one in Chanhassen, Minnesota. She notes that she does “not intend on joining a cult after graduation” but may take some social psychology classes in the future.
Future Michigan Division-1 rower Jojo Arlowe ‘25 has had a deep passion for rowing throughout high school. With her partner Tess Dayhoff ‘25, Arlowe will explore “adaptive rowing accessibility.” Arlowe states that her project specifically “focuses on learning about the barriers to participation in adaptive rowing programs” as well as “creating resources” to improve “education, awareness, and access to these programs.” This project surrounds a more narrow issue in a specific sport rather than wider issues in communities that senior projects often address.
Both Forster and Arlow’s projects focus on niche topics they either have an interest in or a personal connection to. Using skills they’ve honed over the years, such as communication and adaptability, Forster and Arlowe’s projects will provide accurate and powerful information that can combat the issues each project addresses.
