Accomplishments and success pervade the class of 2022. Despite the unprecedented challenges that this year’s senior class has faced, they continue to make the most of their final year of high school. Therefore, I believe that it is crucial to highlight the immense achievements of the class of 2022. I spoke with Rebecca Sharp, the president of Mysteries in History, to reflect on her high school experience and discuss her evolution as a leader, student, and an individual. 

Rebecca is an active member of Freehold Township High School. Through activities such as Global Studies and JSA, she has learned to examine the perspective of others and why they think in this manner. She deeply understands the privilege of being a leader and is grateful for the connections she has made with her fellow students.

Read the full interview below: 

Olivia Naum: If you could have dinner with any historical figure who would it be?

Rebecca Sharp: Probably, I would want to have dinner with someone who worked for women’s right to vote. So, Susan B. Anthony because I think it would be interesting to find out what they see as the future and talk about what the future is currently. 

ON: If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future? 

RS: I would probably go to the future just because things for women were worse in the past. But also to see how things are and how we can prepare for the future better. 

ON: How did your involvement in Mysteries in History start?

RS: Freshman year they were starting the club, Mr. Grimes and a couple seniors had been trying to get the club started but had been struggling to do so. It wasn’t really working out. But they had finally gotten the club started. So, I went to the interest meeting and there was like 70 kids shoved into Mr. Grime’s room. There mainly were just posters around, like in other teacher’s classrooms, which is how I found out about it.  

ON: What is the most rewarding experience that you have had in Mysteries in History?

RS: I think collaborating with students in other grades for the podcast that we started recording and to create a piece of content like that and show it to other teachers and students. Showing it to other people was really rewarding because it was something that we could share with other people who weren’t really as interested enough to join the club but interested enough to listen to a half-hour podcast and learn something. 

ON: What have been some of the topics on the podcast? And are you the one speaking on the podcast, who is typically involved with that?

RS: Yeah, I was on the board sophomore year and still am today. We would get together and have other students and basically have a conversation about things. We did different topics like cryptids, so like Bigfoot, kind of silly stuff, to more serious things like the assassination of JFK. Things that just have never been really solved and we don’t really know too much about, but are interesting to talk about and have a conversation about and theorize about what could be the reasons for these things or explanations for these things. 

ON: I know that the club made the podcast two years ago, are you going to continue that this year?

RS: Yeah, we did the podcast two years ago and last year because of Covid it didn’t really work out. But we are going to restart it this year and hopefully do it more often. But yeah, because it was two years ago we only had 2/3rds of the year anyway because school ended in March and we couldn’t really do any more after that point. So, we should be able to do a lot more this year.

ON: That’s exciting! 

RS: Yeah. 

ON: What is the most surprising thing about being a president of a club?

RS: I think the most surprising thing is the reactions you get back from the people who voted for you. I know some clubs, you can apply and be chosen by an advisor, but for us we did it by voting. To hear some of the people who voted for me tell me that they were happy for me or that they had heard me talk before was really rewarding. It’s really surprising sometimes to hear how much of an impact or how much fun people can have in a club, even though it’s slightly academic, to have fun in a club, after school or before school. To be able to do that is really nice. 

ON: It’s a great feeling to work in a club and make those connections and see those rewards from connecting with people and impactful their lives. How have you grown throughout your high school career? This can be about Mysteries in History or about any of the other activities you’re involved with.  

RS: I think over the past four years and with Covid especially too, I have been able to learn about different perspectives, and kind of think about how others think. That’s not really something I had ever approached in the past, and certainly freshman year and the beginning of sophomore year, I had never really thought about how other people think or why they think differently than I do. But, after four years of being in the Global Studies program and being a part of JSA, and Mysteries in History, and being able to listen to other people, and having the opportunity to do so in a lot of different classes and clubs. I have really been able to understand and talk to people and understand how they think and what they think. Learning about and kind of looking into aspects of growing up and learning different things. 

ON: Yeah, that’s really interesting. It’s like the common theme of all these activities, especially with Global Studies, is looking at things from different perspectives and learning how other people think. It’s almost the same in Mysteries in History like, this is how we have been taught this historical event but let’s try to look at it in a different way. 

RS: Yeah. 

ON: I know you’re also in band, how has that shaped your high school experience?

RS: Band and marching band has been the most impactful thing that I have participated in, I think in my entire life. I gained so many of my friends from band and having an after school activity that also applies as a community and something that happens year-round. You know, I’m not in the band class because of Global Studies, but I’m still able to participate and do something that I really enjoy doing with minimum amounts of pressure. Even though it can be stressful at times, I still am able to enjoy something that I like to do and outside of an academic way, it’s more of an artistic way and to be able to do something artistic in school and outside of school is really an enjoyable experience and I gained so many of my ideas and friends from band.

ON: It’s so amazing that you’ve gotten to explore so many different interests. Being able to participate in all of those things in some form is really great and shows how much you have been involved throughout your high school career. 

RS: Yeah, for sure. 

ON: What is your favorite memory from high school so far?

RS: Oh, that’s so tough. The one memory I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget is kind of silly, but we had one football game that we went to as a marching band in the pouring rain and it was the same day that the referendum didn’t pass my sophomore year, so it was stressful day for everyone because we were upset about that. Then we went to a football game in the pouring rain, we weren’t really able to play our instruments at all, we had malfunctions with the bus but it was something that like in all the chaos we stayed together and we were all still able to have fun despite everything going wrong. I think that was something I had never really experienced before, total chaos and everything not working out, but still being able to enjoy ourselves and remember it as a happy memory rather than something that was very sad. That would be the one thing I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget. 

ON: That’s so cute, I love that. I feel like that kind of sums up our class, like everything not working out and finding the joy and happiness in what we do get. 

RS: Yeah, for sure.