"Non sibi isn't a specific action...it's taking that extra step."

Demetrius - Class of 2011 New York, NY

“The other day my cluster dean said to me that I was acting very non sibi. At first I didn’t exactly know what she was talking about,” says Demetrius. “But non sibi isn’t a specific action. It’s holding doors, picking up a book for someone—just taking that extra step.”

That extra step comes naturally to Demetrius who learned early on from his mother that giving back to the community and volunteering time is important. In the past he has worked with the MSPCA. More recently her tutored underprivileged elementary students in the neighboring town of Lawrence, Mass. “I feel like because we have so much more, we should use our advantages to help others,” Demetrius says.

When not giving back to the community Demetrius participates in the Philomathean Society (debate team), theatre dramalabs, and the wrestling and crew teams. He also gives school tours and studies linguistics. “I speak Spanish and Dutch. I’m taking Japanese right now and will take German next year,” says Demetrius. “Language barriers and not being able to fully express yourself to someone in their native dialect is one of the biggest problems we face in the world. By studying languages we can learn to communicate better and hopefully bring together more cultures.”