Untitled - Saint George School

8 / AGORA
by Andrew Wilson,
Theory of Knowledge and
History Teacher
At Saint George, we ask a lot of our students. In
school, we ask our students to be in command of their
own academic domain, their own commitments and
responsibilities, to uphold high standards, and to hold
themselves accountable to meet the expectations
of a Saint George student in good standing. Given
the totality of what we demand, it is a tremendous
accomplishment to achieve this standard, but this is
also the baseline expectation and minimum standard
we hold for all our students. On some level, all of our
students struggle with this load. Yet, even with the
rigor of our program, some of our students demand
even more of themselves. A student, for me, who
stands out amongst his peers is Michael Landestoy,
who is graduating this year with the Galia promotion
class of 2013.
Even though it is not his nature to seek the limelight,
Michael has taken a path to graduation that deserves
to be appreciated by us all, as exceptional and
inspirational, especially for those of us who understand
the difficulty of everything this young man has
accomplished.
Of Michael’s 50-plus peers in his Galia promotion, only
15 had the academic fortitude and stamina to tackle
the full IB Diploma, rather than certificates, in addition
to this country’s full national diploma. As a fully
bilingual, double-curriculum program, our students
juggle over 12 courses per semester, in two “native”
languages of English and Spanish, in addition to French.
For the full IB Diploma, this means a full year of college
level courses, in addition to the national requirements
for the Dominican diploma. The IB academic program
alone is incredibly onerous for those that focus on this
exclusively.
Add to the mix of Michael’s life, his role within his
promotion as an active peer, friend, and cheerleader
for all events, willing to role up his
sleeves to help out for Field Day,
sporting events, or any fundraiser,
an ubiquitous leader within the
background of any group activity.
Where there is Galia, you will find
Michael.
Add to the mix of Michael’s life, his
role as Secretary-General of the
Model United Nations club, the
largest club of any kind at Saint
George. Model U.N. requires its
participants to be up to date on all
of the global connections between
today’s current events, linking the
relationships between all countries
and regions with the implications
for geo-political balance of power.
As a leader, Michael must help bring
newer members into a culture of
global understanding that requires
students to be more fundamentally
aware of all things going on in the
world around us. As Secretary-
General, Michael has helped lead
the program to one of the most
stellar years of recognition in the
regional programs the SGS MUN
club has ever participated in: Buenos
Aires, the Caribbean conference,
and in the spring conference in New
York. This activity, by itself, can be
all-consuming, but Michael marches
on.
Ad to the mix of Michael’s life,
his desire to follow his own
passion for baseball like his father,
Rafael Landestoy, a professional
in the major leagues and lifetime
“Liceista”. Self-control, hard work,
attention to detail, commitment,
self-discipline, are all words to
describe the key ingredients of
success for any aspiring professional
athlete. To reach professional
status in no accident: Michael has
endeavored to meet the challenges
of practice, training and games
in the Dominican Republic’s
elite youth baseball programs,
to maintain his dream of playing
professional ball someday. Yet,
most individuals who make it to
the highest levels of sports must
sacrifice other elements of their
lives to keep the necessary focus to
make their dreams possible. Michael
still keeps professional baseball as
his focus, without allowing himself
to forego his other commitments:
he demands of himself to find
room to pursue it all. How is this
possible?
1. Michael as Secretary
General for SGSMUN.
2. Michael at the Galia
Fashion Show. 3. Michael
Landestoy with Juan Ramos.
AGORA / 9