Senior Bulldog, Aylah Purdum has hit one of the most significant milestones in her life when getting into Dartmouth. Purdum is very skilled and has prepared for a moment like this since she first started high school. Purdum has put lots of hard work and effort into the past 9 years to get into an Ivy League school.

Purdum had not only applied to Darthmouth but also applied to other Ivy League schools. However, once she found out she got into Dartmouth with an early decision, she withdrew her other applications. Purdum also applied to Princeton, Yale, and Mount Union but was beyond excited to find out she got into her first-choice school. Purdum discovered she loved the Dartmouth campus and the community after an on-campus visit. Her excellent grades and hard work led to the ultimate college financial aid package with Dartmouth offering her around $80,000 per year.

Purdum states, “I instantly felt a connection to it. I liked it the moment I stepped onto campus; it was a beautiful campus in the mountains. I liked the tour and community and they have a good biology and science program.”

Purdum is attending Dartmouth to study biology/pre-med and then to eventually become a pediatrician. Purdum will also be in the marching band playing the tuba, which she has done all 4 years of high school. What inspired her to be in the marching band was her father. Her father always pushed her towards music and to be musically involved.

A huge part of Purdum’s life at Lakeview was joining Drama Club during Freshman year. During these 4 years, Drama Club has helped her find many of her lifelong friends. However, because of these opportunities, the enjoyment she has experienced, and the amazing memories she has been considering minoring in theater.

What interested Purdum in selecting her future career as a pediatrician was helping as many people as she could because she loves working with people and kids. A couple of things that inspired Purdum most to pursue her dreams, were her parents, teachers, and Covid-19.

Purdum says, “I had already been considering a career in medicine, but seeing the shortage of doctors and the horrors of the virus over the last few years, I solidified my opinion. Now I want to major in Biology so that I can go on to be a doctor and help as many people as I can.”

One of Purdum’s apprehensions is being worried about how far away the college is. However, she is excited to start classes and get to know the community and the students.

Not only has Purdum had a 4.0 all of her high school career but her excellent grades started even in middle school. Throughout these 9 years, she has taken many courses, some of which include the CCP classes we offer at Lakeview. With amazingly hard work and brilliance, Purdum doesn’t run into too many problems taking these amazing classes at Lakeview.

Purdum states, “Lakeview has prepared me for the difficulty and workload of college. I think that the courses I will take in college will be easier and more familiar because Lakeview prepared me with many CCP classes over the last two years.”

Throughout middle school, all the way up to high school Purdum has never felt properly challenged. She took as many advanced classes as she could, but yet found them to be time-consuming or easy. Even when she was able to have more control over her schedule and take harder classes she still felt them to be less difficult than she had expected. Purdum had to overcome the challenge of finding things that kept her interested and challenged her intellectually. To keep herself focused on her day-to-day basis she pays attention in class and tries to do homework in school as much as she can.

When speaking with Purdum’s parents they had great things to say. Purdum’s parents knew she was going to apply to Dartmouth and went there with her to visit over the summer. They had visited other Ivy League schools but to them, it was clear that Dartmouth was her first choice.

As Bulldogs, we are sad to see Purdum go but also excited to congratulate Purdum for hitting a big milestone in her life. Lakeview wishes you the best of luck and thanks you for setting a good example for your fellow students!