Leanne Gaffney, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leo Gaffney of Hyde Park, will be a senior at Boston Latin School in the fall of 2002. She is currently interested in applying to an assortment of colleges, ranging from Ivy League to state schools. She hopes, however, to attend either Yale University or Georgetown University and study international relations.
She is interested in pursuing a career in law, most likely international or constitutional law. She hopes to promote peace and human rights around the world and especially, here, in the United States. She sees herself as either an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, a United Nations worker, or federal judge. She has high aspirations and a willingness to succeed.
For her, the John William Ward Fellowship just made sense. She believes in volunteerism, which she feels is beneficial to all involved. She has volunteered at the Greater Boston Food Bank in the past, and has been involved in the Samaritans of Boston for one year now, where she answers the teen suicide prevention hotline as a Samariteen. She knows that public service fits her personality and that the Ward Fellowship will undoubtedly give her insights to public service that she would otherwise never have as a high school student.
At school she also tries to develop her skills and fuel her interests. She is involved in the Boston Latin School Concert Choir. She has been in choir at BLS for the last five years. A lover of all types of music, she also takes voice lessons outside of school in order to reinforce her learning and have fun. Over the past year she has been an active member in the Writing Project, which she helped launch. The Writing Project was an attempt to publish a Children’s book of animal stories written by members of two of the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition, or Writing, classes at Boston Latin under the direction of Ms. Nancy O’Malley, an English teacher at BLS. The book is dedicated to patients of Children’s Hospital and all other kids, especially those, who reside in shelters. The book is being published and will be distributed at Children’s and local shelters very soon. Leanne is very excited about this.
The extracurricular activity that takes up most of Leanne’s time is leading the Boston Latin School Mock Trial Team with her co-captain, Caitlin Gillooly. Leanne, having a passion for law, was drawn to the Mock Trial scene fairly early in her Latin career. She was a member of the Intramural Team in ninth grade and joined the Mass Bar Association regulated competition team in tenth grade. She became co-captain in her junior year, and led her team to a regional victory. She along with all her teammates hopes to do even better next year. In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching movies with friends, and swimming.
Leanne is very enthusiastic about the Fellowship and hopes it will be the first of many great public service experiences.
Leanne’s sponsor is Thomas Reilly.