Family legacy. Community. New opportunities. These are all elements that attracted freshman Nadia Schimmelman to Seattle Prep. Despite Covid putting a pause on 8th grade visitors coming to tour the school, Schimmelman was already familiar with Prep’s culture and atmosphere. Having visited many times with her speech team, sports games, and most of her family having attended Prep.  

 It was a no brainer for Schimmelman to attend Seattle Prep given her family’s legacy. Schimmelman’s family history at Prep begins 38 years ago with 12 members of her family having graduated from or currently attending Prep. The alumni of her family include her Uncle Patrick McDowall ’83, Aunt Christine McDowall ’84, mom, Mary McDowall Schimmelman ’85, Uncle John McDowall ’88, Uncle James McDowall ’89, sister, Aine Schimmelman ’19, and cousin Sophie McDowall ’21. The family currently attending Prep includes four cousins: Cora McDowall ’23, Jessica McDowall ’23, Maria McDowall ’24, and James McDowall ’24. As for her immediate family, her older brother, Will Schimmelman ’22 currently attends Prep and says, “Nod [Nadia] lowkey cool”. 

  As for Schimmelman herself, her favorite aspect of Prep is the close community and unique opportunities it embodies. With only a few of her classmates from her grade school, Our Lady of Fatima, attending Prep alongside her, Schimmelman says she was “pretty nervous about meeting new people but is happy with who she has met so far”. With a new school comes new opportunities and Schimmelman has taken full advantage of that by joining the Outdoors’s Club and swim team. Schimmelman is a proud member of Loyola Collegio, and her favorite classes so far are music and German due to the great environment and people there. With her family here to guide her and already getting involved in extracurriculars, Schimmelman is off to a great start! 

 Want to meet another member of the Class of 2024? See the video above from Seattle Prep Film Club.