Senior year is hard enough as it is. The ultimate struggle between “work and play” becomes a big part of your last year of childhood comes to an end. Imagine adding the weight of an Ivy League school, being drum line captain, church, add in being a PAL, and an NHS officer. This is what senior Nathaniel Buescher powers through every single day.

The summer before junior year, Buescher spent a week visiting colleges like Harvard, MIT, and Columbia.

“I was selected with 20 other students,” Buescher said.

Buescher looks back on this trip as something that changed his view of what colleges were in his reach.

“Without that visit, I don’t think I would have even thought about applying to such prestigious schools,” Buescher said.

Buescher decided to return to MIT after hearing about a week-long summer program called The Engineering Experience Program.

“You can do different courses at the camp,” Buescher said. “I chose Astro and Aeronautical engineering. We focused on the design of airplane wings and rockets.”

Every since completing the program, Buescher has been set on MIT.

“It seems like MIT has a culture devoted to discovering new things specifically for the purpose of applying them to bettering the world,” Buescher said. “It’s not like other top tier schools.”

At MIT, Buescher would like to study virology or hydrology.

“I’ve always been interested in vaccines and the movement of water and plan to use these interests to help better the world around me,” Buescher said.

Although Buescher has many accomplishments likew being at the top of his class, in NHS and a PAL he is proud of being on drum line.

“Drums are not my original instrument,” Buescher said. “I would practice in the hallways and people would tell me I would do it. I tried out my junior year and then I became the tenor captain.”