Our next Senior Spotlight features Lily Felger, a day student who’s been at St. Stephen’s for the last 4 years! She’s probably a familiar face around campus, whether you’ve seen her leading Poetry Club during club time or as part of a theatre production. She’s also a Health TA and a Student Support Network (SSN) leader. 

Felger first became involved with Poetry Club at the end of her sophomore year and ended up a co-leader the following year by chance. While hesitant at first, she’s since developed a true love for poetry. “I made many friends across grades, and I also formed relationships with Mr. Friend and Dr. Hynes, which I feel like I wouldn’t have had without Poetry Club.” Felger’s favorite memory from Poetry Club was their Christmas party last year. “It was just a lot of fun because lots of people came and we did black-out poetry together,” she explains.

In addition to poetry, Felger has also developed a true love of theatre through her time at St. Stephen’s. Her interest in performing arts began back in 8th grade, she recalls, when she was a part of her school’s worship band. That same year, she also participated in her first play. “It was called Uncle Phil’s Diner—I was cast as a ‘knock-off beauty school dropout’ and had one line,” she fondly recalls. That one line was all it took for her to want to continue theatre in high school, but at first, joining the St. Stephen’s theatre program seemed intimidating. After a “leap of faith,” however, she decided to join one of our theatre classes her sophomore year. “We started the class with an Improv unit, which was outside my comfort zone, but I started leaning into my natural humor, and it worked! I think that unit helped me get comfortable on stage because I was being myself and not a character.” Ever since, Felger has been involved in the theatre community, with her role in Mean Girls as Ensemble/Mrs. Heron her favorite to date. Most recently, Felger was Mrs. Soames in Our Town, and she looks forward to the Winter Musical, Amelie. 

Adding on to her love of performing, Felger also loves playing the piano. “I started playing nine years ago when my dad took me to Music & Arts and I sat with this guy named Andrew, who was really cool, and just began weekly lessons with him.” Once she got a little more advanced, she switched to a local teacher in her neighborhood, with whom she’s been playing ever since. Some of her favorite songs to play on the piano are “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon and Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.” While piano isn’t a part of her school life, Felger wants to continue playing for fun in the future, no matter where she is. 

Felger will be attending Tufts University next year, where she plans on majoring in psychology and getting involved with research. She hopes younger Spartans will find their niche like she did on the Hill and remember that activities like academics, athletics, and performing arts aren’t a reflection of individual self-worth—don’t be afraid to try something new!