The intimate gathering of AP Research students focused their attention on their guest speaker, who stood at the front of the classroom. An in-depth class that spans a year and operates at some of the highest levels of research, synthesis, analysis, and presentation, the class is taught by Upper School English teacher Scott Hertrick.
“You’ve become experts in your chosen field,” began Mr. Hertrick. “But ultimately, you will be explaining your research to those who haven’t heard about it and you don’t want to lose your audience,” he cautioned before he and Deidre Cooper, All-School Coordinator of Student Engagement, introduced Ava Morey ‘21, who had returned to FA to offer her thoughts on research writing and provide real-time feedback to Mr. Hertrick’s students. “So, explaining your ideas to a new audience will be very helpful for you,” he added.
Currently a senior at Amherst College double majoring in Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought along with Sexuality, Women’s, and Gender Studies, Ava was recently awarded the 2024 Rose Oliver Student Research Fund for her research on the growing LGBTQ+ unhoused community and institutional neglect that intensifies the challenges these individuals face. Since FA, Ava has served as a Legal Intern at Pfizer, Barton LLP and Law Offices of Nancy E. Lusk as well as an Intensive Writing Teacher’s Assistant and Political Science Research Assistant at Amherst.
“I never got to write a paper in high school as long as you are intending to write,” began Ava as she referenced the 25-page research paper that AP Research students will complete on a topic of their choice at the conclusion of the class. “When you go to college, you are thrown into the deep end – writing up to 20 to 25 papers. This class provides you a very unique head start,” she added.
In this newly offered course, AP Research students, inspired by personal experiences, have chosen a gamut of topics to research – from using the Harry Potter series to interrogate gender roles in adolescent friendships (Jhanvi Ghambir ‘25); exploring how the change in the rate of minimum wage can affect the cost of living, food stuffs, and the rate of social mobility for the middle class in the eastern U.S. (Shawn Paris ‘25); emotional regulation and its connection to Arts classes (Katherine Lee ‘25); evaluating different strategies for mitigating the number of farm-raised salmon that enter the breeding population with wild salmon (Kai Jordan '26); how institutional dynamics shape the political expressions of contemporary artists (Emma Wu ‘25); to the intersection of diet culture and wellness culture (Riya Sarwal '25).
Both Ava and Mr. Hertrick stressed the importance of exhaustive research before forming hypotheses and thinking more about analysis than providing solutions. “Coming up with a half-effort solution can weaken a paper,” explained Ava. “It can be an opportunity for critics to pick your work apart, so make sure you read everything out there before you touch the keyboard. Getting away from that understanding was pivotal for me… Use your tools before you start thinking about your argument because those research gaps will originate from a pre-established argument,” she continued. “I always appreciate when authors address those gaps. It can be a powerful way to strengthen your credibility and your argument.”
As part of the formal research process, students will also have to write a “Limitations and Implications section.” “Showing those limitations really advances your argument,” she said. One thought on students’ minds was the awesome task of going where no one has gone before. “Do you have to come up with something that hasn’t been produced yet?” asked Kai Jordan ‘26. “That definitely exists, especially in the higher level classes, where students can write papers up to 100 pages,” shared Ava. “A friend of mine is struggling with coming up with new ideas – how to take other people’s ideas and come up with new ideas… that’s a skill that you don’t normally work on.”
In comparing her high school experiences to those of her peers, Ava was struck by the differences. “Friends was really good in that way. A lot of students from other schools come in with metaphors that need to be deconstructed; there are so many other ways to write an academic paper,” she mused. “The big thing that changed for me was how I write introductory paragraphs.”
Ava’s senior thesis focuses on anti-homeless legislation, both throughout history and a recent case this past summer that deals with the ability of law enforcement to arrest unhoused people for sleeping on the street. “They can be arrested even when there are fewer shelter beds than people,” she pointed out. “I’ve wrestled with laws created a hundred years ago and laws that are coming out today – it’s the longest essay I’ve ever written.”
To deepen their critical thinking, AP Research students turned to a fascinating array of analytical devices. “I am going to use conversational analysis to develop codes,” explained Jhanvi, who chose Book 4 of the Harry Potter series because it demonstrated the most tension between characters. “I tested a calibration of my code on the first book and plan to use the first sentence and last sentence after dialogue to develop graphs and statistics.”
Emma hopes that her examination of keyword searches referencing the way people critique art and how that has changed over time will inform her research into the changing political expression of art. “While there is already research exploring this intersection of institution vs. art, I don’t want to approach it from just political rhetoric,” she said. “I’m interested in art history and there haven’t been too many responses,” she pondered hopefully.
Finishing up a lightning round of presentation and feedback with the students, Ava marveled at their deportment. “It’s been really refreshing to see how they can share with a complete stranger and to witness their willingness and the confidence in their topics,” she smiled. “It is refreshing to see how well the system does work here and how different the level of knowledge is here. I have friends who would never want to return to their high school, but I have come back with so much more appreciation.”
Working through the challenges of completing a larger research project has opened new doors for Ava, who recently received a grant for her work on LGBT unhoused individuals. “I can see the historical implications in this country; how we have regressed in recent Supreme Court cases and the tangible meanings for people we may pass on the street. So much of litigation is rooted in social understanding and there is a lot of social reform that we must do to get laws to match what society deems as useful.”
Photography by Alvin Caal/Friends Academy