Precocious student ready for Umass Lowell this fall – Sentinel and Enterprise

FITCHBURG — Intentions are being set and the Class of 2024 is eager to graduate and move on to the next chapters of their lives. One of them is Sizer School senior Connor Shaw of Fitchburg, who will attend UMass Lowell in the fall.

On his first tour of the school, Shaw said he knew it was for him.

“I got to talk with all the teachers and I really enjoyed it,” Shaw said. “It was nice to hear that the class sizes are incredibly small, with 15 people making up a large class.”

Shaw will major in English with a concentration in creative writing. But this has not always been the case.

“I originally planned to study Game Design in the Netherlands,” he said. “I applied to the universities of applied sciences in Hanze and Breda – Hogeschool if you want to be posh and Dutch. »

Shaw says those plans failed for a variety of reasons.

“As far as American schools go, I applied to schools like Drexel, Champlain and SUNY Polytechnic Institute,” Shaw said. “Eventually, I started to doubt Game Design because the path I wanted to take and the local schools I applied to were generally much cheaper. I also applied to UMass Amherst, Dartmouth, and Boston, all computer science.

Shaw was able to secure financial aid that will cover half of his UMass Lowell tuition. He was also admitted to the Honors College.

Shaw says choosing a major was a difficult process.

“I really don’t know what I want to do in life,” he said. “I’ve never been good at sticking to one thing, so I pretty much touch on everything and then move on. I would like to have a small farm in the north where I could raise goats and ducks.

Adding that if he decides to change his major in the future, he might consider becoming a librarian or archivist.

“That’s one of the reasons I chose English,” Shaw said. “I discovered that I loved writing, so I continued to take writing classes at Fitchburg State University. I took a fiction writing class last semester and now I’m writing poetry. Personally, I preferred fiction. This sort of settled the IT debate.

Being a part of the Early College High School program helped Connor find a new passion. His education at the Sizer School helped establish the foundation he needed for college-level learning.

“The more project-based learning at the Sizer School has helped a lot with the transition to college,” he said. “For example, in Writing II, there is an assignment, and it is a large research paper.”

Shaw has been a student at Sizer School since 7th grade.

“My two sisters, Abigail and Audrey Cox, also went here,” he said.

A member of the Band Club since his early days at Sizer, Shaw also participates in the Dungeons & Dragons Club and the Gamer’s Guild, where Shaw played a card game called “Magic the Gathering.”

His advice to future juniors, ahead of their final year?

“Do everything – if you’re not sure – do it,” he said. “You won’t know how you feel until you do it.”

For over 20 years, Sizer School has sent graduates into the world who THINK for themselves, care about others, and ACT creatively and responsibly. Serving students in grades 7-12, Sizer School is a public charter school located in Fitchburg. Sizer School is currently accepting applications. The deadline is June 1. Apply online at www.sizerschool.org.