William plans to study Data Analytics at Babson College. Read his essay below:

Living in Great Neck isn’t just a blessing, the home of a community shaped by the sea, where the rhythms of the tides set the pace of daily life, and the waterfront isn’t just scenery, but a way of being.  Clammers heading out before sunrise, families gathered at the shore on summer evening, neighbors who have watched the sunsets for decades.  All connected by the neck, that is, around them.  Great Neck isn’t simply a place on a map; it is a feeling of community, a way of life that the seas have quietly built over generations.

Nowhere is this community spirit more alive than on the waterfront itself, where the changing seasons bring the many traditions that tie the residents of the land.  The many sights and sounds bring out the best in us, the gulls overhead in the reaching of spring, the waters on the dock of the IBYC, the engine of the pram warming up for the summer run.  Then the winter of white, coating across the many houses, the ice floating across the ocean, the cardinal moving from tree to tree. By afternoon, the ocean is polished glass, and the sky above is bright in the colors of orange and pink that make even the most familiar view feel like something seen for the first time. Great Neck teaches you to notice the many things in life.  It teaches you that beauty is not something you have to travel far to find, but is already here.  Built into the moments of a life lived beside the water.  In these moments, on the deck of your house, with the wind on its southern breeze, you understand why people who are here love it.

There is something almost invisible that binds the people together, something that does not announce itself, but is felt in many ways – the many walks, waves, the shared worry of the storms, all together in one thought.  In these walks, friends are made, and the many summers we are all together are the best time for togetherness. A place where people still show up for one another, where the ties between residents are not transactional but genuine, woven slowly over shared seasons and the particular kind of trust that only time and place can build.

In the end, what Great Neck offers cannot be packaged or easily described to someone who has not felt it for themselves. The simple beauty of the water and the stillness of the winter morning all lead to the many ways everyone connects through the difference in the neck.  The sum of the moments that may be common adds up to something rare, a life that feels complete and grounded.  Great Neck is not a place you merely pass through.  It is a place that stays with you, quietly and permanently, long after you have left its shores.

Colleen plans to study Communications at Syracuse University or Quinnipiac University. Read her essay below:

I have lived on Great Neck since I was three years old. We moved into my mother’s childhood home.  Her father chose the plot and we are the only family that has ever lived in it, so it’s kind of like a generational hand-off now.  We came here for a good reason, to take care of my grandmother; to feed her, get her on the bus to daycare, help her get ready, the basic needs.  Taking care of her was the first real work I have ever had to do in my life, really.  At times, that process could be stressful, but one of the best things to do when you’re stressed is to take a steam break and go for a walk.  Fortunately, we moved to one of the most scenic neighborhoods in Ipswich, so walks here are just that good.

I live on Clark Road and the Clark Pond lap is a great route for a walk.  Not too long, but not too short, and you get the best of all worlds: you duck under the green gate at the entrance of Clark with the horizon lifting over the bushes in front of you as you descend the hill.  On the beach you not only see the ocean, but you see the end of Plum Island, Cape Ann, and Castle Hill all within one eyeshot, some of the best places to go in the summer on the boat while Ipswich Bay is buzzing.  I have formed countless core memories out on the boat: basking in the sun with a tingle in my skin while listening to the staticky boat radio, the vessel rocking me to sleep.  Even climbing the Plum Island dunes with my cousins is a great memory though the burning sand was forcing us to tiptoe.

Back on the Clark Beach walk, as you venture across the bridge to the beginning of Clark Road, you’ve suddenly changed biomes: the trees surround you every which way with the occasional rabbit or deer jutting across the street.  The Clark Pond observatory deck is a physical reminder that we have forest, ocean, and freshwater pond all in one neighborhood.

Not only is the physical neighborhood a great place to be, but is a great place to give back to the community.  I have done lots of volunteer work on Great Neck, from beach cleanups to telling runners which way to go in a road race.  I even came here with my AP Environmental class last year to pull invasive plants from the beach.  As I have grown up, I realize how much Great Neck has given me, so the volunteer opportunities I have had here allowed me to give back to the place that has provided me and my family with so much joy.