Josh Kelaher

Major: Integrated Science and Technology
Hometown: Fairfax, Va.
High School: Robinson Secondary
Highlights: JMU freshman; earned an International Baccalaureate diploma at Robinson; chose Madison primarily because of the scope of ISAT’s alternative energy program.

Talk about your IB curriculum.

Ninth and 10th grades are pre-IB. The 11th- and 12th-grade classes are considered to be at the level of AP courses or maybe slightly above. They offer more focus and more college-level, critical thinking-oriented classes in IB. The focus is to get you to question how you know what you know, why are you learning this, what are the applications. You have to write a series of external essays and send them off to be graded, and you have to put in an additional 150 hours that are broken up into community service, creativity and some kind of sports activity. It also involves internal assessments that are graded a certain way, and then you have the IB exams.

Was it as demanding as it sounds?

I kind of like challenging myself. It wound up being OK, even though at some points it was a little over my head. For the most part, it was a good experience. It really prepared me for college.

What service work have you done?

Most of my service came from tutoring other students through my involvement in Spanish Honor Society and National Honor Society. I have done a couple Habitat for Humanity projects, and a lot of school-related activities such as school clean-ups around the campus and the area.

Did you play sports?

I played lacrosse for my high school. I also ran cross-country for a year. I did snowboarding club at my school too, and I organized a club for Frisbee golf.

Why do you think you won a top Dingledine award?

I give a lot of credit to my parents. Academically, they always pushed me. They weren’t overbearing, but they motivated me to study and also placed a huge emphasis on being a well-rounded person – being a person who could study and also have a rich social life. I think the three main parameters of the Dingledine award – being an academic leader, a leader in a general sense and someone involved in service to others – are three aspects of being a well-rounded person.

How is JMU so far?

Everyone seems to be in such really good moods all the time. I am not having any trouble finding people to hang out with. As far as classes go, I was worried that I would have some boring lecture classes, but that has not been the case at all.