Theo Mendez
The Potomac School

During a trip to Senegal last summer, Theo Mendez found himself sitting in a hut with his new home-stay parents in utter silence. Neither party spoke the other’s language.

“I was halfway around the world with people living an insanely different life than mine, but we are still humans…,” says the rising senior. “It was comforting to go there and feel like my belief—that people can connect and empathize with each other, no matter who they are—was affirmed.”

Mendez has always been intrigued by cultural diversity. As a sophomore, he co-founded Many Voices, One Community, a school club dedicated to eliminating stereotypical biases. The following year, he helped launch the Young Philosophers club, a forum in which students can openly discuss moral, ethical and societal issues. “[Theo] understands there is more than one perspective that is worth looking at and worth respecting,” says David Grant, director of diversity and inclusion at The Potomac School.

Mendez also serves on the school’s Honor Council, a committee that offers peer guidance to students who have breached the honor code. “It’s really important to be able to show [other students] that you empathize with them,” he says.

But there is one arena in which Mendez shows no mercy. Before he turned 17 in February, he was ranked No. 24 in the nation (in the Under 17 age group) by United Squash. Now ranked No. 44 nationwide in the Under 19 division, he plays the top position for his school’s squash team, which this year celebrated an undefeated season in the Mid-Atlantic division and a 15th-place finish in the national championships.

This summer, Mendez is interning with Ashoka, an organization that invests in leading social entrepreneurs. He hopes to attend a liberal arts college and engage in further humanitarian work after he graduates.

“Changing people’s lives is the piece I most want to accomplish,” he says.

“His time in the developing world…helped to shift his view on his own life from a micro-view to a macro-view,” says Megan Fettig, an instructor with Where There Be Dragons, the four-week cultural immersion program that took Mendez to Africa last year. “He now has a ‘mountain peak perspective’…rather than just being stuck in the valley.”

—Lindsey Brookbank (photo by Erick Gibson)