Name, city of residence:
Benjamin Pearson, Santa Cruz
Grade you started at MMS:
Kindergarten
What inspires you?
People who find something they love and go do it. I know what I am passionate about, but I don’t pursue it as much as I would like to. People who take initiative are inspiring to me.
What is your favorite subject in school, and why?
At Mount Madonna School, my favorite subject is either math or physics, but of all the subjects, astronomy and astrophysics are definitely my favorite.
If you had the power to change one thing in the world, what would it be?
I would love to change our primary energy sources to solar, hydropower and wind, as there is so much reusable, untapped energy in our ecosphere that would solve so many climate and economic problems.
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
I would go to either Iceland or New Zealand, because both are just amazing places with insane landscapes and extremely clear skies.
Name one big challenge in your life right now:
I don’t really have any challenges to be honest, the only thing that is consistently an annoyance is my knee pain from volleyball, but it’s tolerable.
What is your dream job and why?
Planetary discovery at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). I love the unknown and having a job in which I get to explore the biggest possible unknown to ever exist is all I could ask for.
What are your three favorite things?
Volleyball, food and space
Favorite book:
My favorite book is “Seveneves” by Neal Stephenson and I have not gotten to read it yet! My dad has told me stuff about the plot and some of the concepts that were used and it sounds so interesting, but I haven’t had the drive to start a 900-page book yet.
What do you want to do after high school?
Go to college and study space, and after college I want to study more space. All the while playing beach volleyball and possibly indoor volleyball in college and grass volleyball after college.
Something that you are proud of – and why:
I am proud of how far I have come in volleyball. I put in a lot of work to be where I am today and I think it is really paying off with how much I can get from playing the sport.
Something that makes you smile:
Moments where you aren’t thinking about anything besides what you are doing. Being present is really hard, but moments like that are always just so nice.
A favorite MMS memory – and why?
Every “Ramayana!” is a favorite memory of mine. It’s going to be so weird moving on in life and not doing that every year. I will definitely come back to watch the show, as it is just such a big part of my life. I can still remember how much fun I had with it even in kindergarten as a bat.
Top three most-played songs on your favorite playlist:
I don’t have favorite playlists, I just pick and choose songs. My top three songs at the moment are: “Off da Zoinkys” by JID, “Traffic in the Sky” by Jack Johnson, and “Solitude is Bliss” by Tame Impala. Those aren’t the top three listened, but I think those show the different genres I like the most, so I picked them.
