The High Point Legacy: Alumni Spotlight: Darcy Michero (Class of 2014)

“High Point Academy gave me the support I needed to take risks, problem-solve, and become curious about the world.”

My Brief Bio—

After graduating from Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, I attended UCLA, where I graduated Summa Cum Laude and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychobiology. While at UCLA I spent my time working in a variety of research labs, including a children’s development lab, an orthopedic surgery lab, and an opioid treatment research project. I also worked as a professor’s assistant and taught organic chemistry to other students for two years. In addition I was also on the ski and snowboard teams before COVID hit.

I currently work as a clinical research coordinator at a telemedicine company called Pelago, which offers personalized substance use care for those who want to stop, cut back, or manage their alcohol, opioid, tobacco, or cannabis use. In addition to managing random control trials, I also oversee good clinical practices and data collection. I have analyzed data findings and contributed to several publications, including four peer-reviewed research articles. I am currently working on finishing my own case report where I will be first author. Until recently I also worked at a non-profit called End Overdose. In my spare time, I teach Hot Power Vinyasa Yoga. Yoga has become one of the most important things in my life—for both mental and physical health. I am headed towards grad school soon for either an MS in clinical psychology to become a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor or to medical school to pursue psychiatry.

My High Point Experience—

I attended High Point Academy from grades K to 8. HPA is special to me because it’s truly the place where it all started, fostering creativity, ambition, and resilience early on. This has helped me succeed later in life. I pinpoint HPA as the place where I developed my work ethic and independent critical thinking. I came back to High Point to do my Girl Scout Gold Award in 2017! There I worked with 2nd graders and two Girl Scout troops. It was so much fun to come back full circle and work with bright students on a topic I truly care about: sustainability and caring for our environment.

My Personal Observations and Reflections—

I loved SO many of my teachers at High Point and had innumerable special moments. I absolutely loved Ms. Terhorst—she had the absolute best sense of humor, and her smile was infectious. I attribute my foundational ability to analyze deeper meaning in literature to Mrs. Colleen Zeiss’s dedication. And finally, Mr. Millard will always have the most special place in my heart; he made me feel that math was a language I could begin to understand with hard work and grit. A shoutout to Mr. Baker as well—I absolutely loved his sense of humor, and it still makes me smile to think about his computer lab. There are just so many more as well.

I went to Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy (FSHA) for high school. The transition was great. I honestly felt that 8th grade at High Point was more difficult than my freshman year in high school—I was so well prepared for the workload. I continued to take many honors and AP classes in high school and never felt that I didn’t have the skills to succeed. I also won an award for my junior year research paper on the constitutional law behind the second amendment and did a special research project on bacterial communication called quorum sensing during my senior year. Essentially, HPA fostered some amazing critical thinking and creative skills necessary to do research and excel at asking novel questions. I also felt extremely prepared for college from FSHA. I really believe that if a student has the ability to manage their time and can work independently without someone telling them to, they will succeed in high school and college. I realized early on that I had some practical skills that my peers at UCLA did not. For example, I knew how to craft a thesis, correctly cite works in different citation styles, and skim works for overarching themes and motifs.

There were so many amazing moments at High Point that it’s difficult to distill nine years of memories into just a few. The funniest moment would have to be during an eighth grade physics class. We were learning some basic principles of thermodynamics and doing an experiment with inertia and momentum using Hot Wheels. There were a few boys in my class who thought it would be a good idea to send the cars straight into the air by swinging at them with a ruler like baseballs once they hopped off the track. What they didn’t foresee happening was that the Hot Wheels would fly through the air and make crash landings directly on top of the teacher’s head. No one was injured during this experience, of course, but the entire class erupted in laughter, including the instructor.

Additional Thoughts—

Along with all the fun, I realized that High Point instilled independence and self-study early on, so I believe that’s why I thrived in higher education. As school got harder through the years, I found myself succeeding in difficult classes and competitive positions. I am extremely grateful for the community of support and kindness at HPA—from the teachers, my peers, and everyone else in between.