Maribel Hernandez ’00, in typical Maribel fashion, is talking passionately about a subject that is important to her. In this case it is the thesis she is working on, in which she is looking at the effects of California’s immigration laws on the identity of illegal Mexican immigrants. “Lots has been said about the issue,” says Maribel in her own Mexican accent, “but little has been said about the immigrants themselves, who are so often objectified. They exist in this gray area, because they don’t really feel like they belong in Mexico or in the U.S. Once they are here, they have no legal backing, no recourse. I believe they should have guaranteed rights.” Maribel describes the process of researching and writing her thesis as simultaneously exhilarating and daunting, but as has happened so often in the last three and a half years, she falls back on her Exeter experience to muster the tenacity she’ll need to plow through. “I often think to myself, ‘Well, I was this scared when I wrote my 333, and that turned out OK,’ ” she says, referring to Exeter’s dreaded upper year history paper.

Now a senior at Harvard, where she is completing an interdisciplinary social studies major and certificates in French and Latin American Studies, Maribel waxes ecstatic when talking about her beloved high school alma mater. “I loved Exeter, and often find myself comparing my experience here at Harvard to my experience there. I really feel that going to Exeter has given me a big boost in life, and if I can ever give back in any way, I’m there.” Maribel, a full scholarship student during her four years at the Academy, had lived in the United States only three years when she was recruited to Exeter from her public middle school in Houston, TX. She counts Director of Financial Aid Rick Mahoney ’61; ’74, ’95 (Hon.); P’88, P’92 among the many members of her Academy support network. “I love Mr. Mahoney and am indebted to him forever and ever. He was so supportive every single time I turned to him.”

Next year, Maribel will continue studying immigrant populations, this time in France. She has just won a prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship, which will permit her to live among and observe immigrants in Marseilles, and “compare it to my own experience as an immigrant in the U.S.” After her year abroad, Maribel will likely spend a year teaching in a bilingual elementary school in Houston with the Teach for America program before going on for a Masters in Public Policy. Meanwhile, the ebullient Hernandez will continue crafting her thesis, volunteering with the numerous Harvard clubs that are near and dear to her heart, working for the Harvard Admissions Office as one of their head Mexican-American recruitment coordinators, and catching the occasional novela (Spanish soap opera). To say her plate is full would be an understatement, but Maribel wouldn’t have it any other way.

If you have children under age 2, Paul Muentener’s laboratory might be your living room. Paul, a member of Exeter’s class of 2000 and a senior psychology major at Georgetown, is currently at work on a thesis for his cognitive science minor in which he is studying how children under 2 might be able to learn from television. The goal is to see if, through repeated exposure to visual stimuli and sound effects, infants and toddlers can begin to transfer learning from television into learning in the home. For Paul, the process is fascinating—so fascinating, in fact, that he hopes to make it his life’s work.

Muentener, who was a four-year student at Exeter, hails from the Jersey Shore and a single-parent household. His journey to New Hampshire began during the summer between his seventh and eighth grade years, when an Exeter admissions representative visited the Peddie School (Hightstown, NJ), where Paul was attending a special program for bright, lower income students. A little more than a year later, Paul found himself at the Academy on full scholarship. “None of the other schools I applied to gave me as great a deal as Exeter,” he recalls.

Paul avoided homesickness through sheer busyness, immersing himself in schoolwork and the stage. “I don’t think I can stress enough how influential the drama faculty were throughout my time at Exeter,” he says, “particularly Rob Richards, Hal Lynch, Sarah Ream and Cary Wendell. They provided me a lot of guidance and taught me so much, not just about theater, but about responsibility, organization and leadership. I really felt supported in the theater throughout my Exeter career. They pushed me to do my best.” Paul went on to serve as president of DRAMAT, Exeter’s drama association. He was also a head tour guide for the admissions office and a proctor in his dormitory, Cilley.

In his senior year, Paul participated in Exeter’s Washington intern program, which, he says, solidified his decision to attend Georgetown. Four years later, Paul, who is a resident assistant and works in a psychology lab on campus, is applying to Ph.D. programs in cognitive development and hopes to continue researching infant and toddler cognition. Clearly excited about his current work and future plans, Paul is also quick to note that it was his time at Exeter, made possible through the Academy’s generous scholarship program, that laid the groundwork for his rich college experience. “At Exeter, it was easy to form relationships with teachers, because classes were small and faculty were always present and available. In college, faculty are definitely willing to be involved, but are not always as visible, so I really took the experiences I had at Exeter and tried to get to know and learn as much as I could from my college professors. This has allowed me to learn a lot outside of the classroom, which I guess is another lesson I took from Exeter. Learning doesn’t stop when you leave the classroom—it can also happen over dinner, in your dorm or during a conversation with faculty and friends.”

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