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Oakcrest Awards Edwina Maksym Senior Thesis Award to Three Students from the Class of 2025

For an Oakcrest student, the Senior Thesis is the capstone of her academic journey at Oakcrest School. From her initial preparation and formation in Middle School and throughout four years of intense intellectual exploration and development in the Upper School, the Senior Thesis is an opportunity for each student to conceive, craft, and defend her own academic contribution to a subject of her choice. 

Every year, Oakcrest awards the Edwina Maksym Senior Thesis Award to senior theses of exceptional scholarly quality, depth of thought, and excellence in presentation. The Class of 2025 delivered a competitive array of theses, with original and expert work on topics ranging from the role of dancing in society to the power of nostalgia and common misconceptions of the American Dream. Given the number of outstanding theses presented, this year the thesis award was presented to three students.

Van H. ‘25, “Feet of Clay: Finding Christian Morality Through the Tragic Heroism Displayed in The Aeneid and A Farewell to Arms.”
This thesis discusses how Aeneas represents the Roman virtue of piety while Frederick represents the nihilist world as a materialist and sensuist. Despite being cultural heroes, they both lack the Christian virtues of heroism and therefore they fall short of the fullness of Christian heroism. In tracing the story between these two characters, Van reveals the need for a christian culture to foster the virtue needed for true heroism. With careful close reading and in depth analysis of the texts, along with her strong, well-researched argument, Van sees hope in the failings of Aneas and Frederick and that hope is in God.

Clare H. ‘25, “Faith, the Consolation of Philosophers: Embracing Life’s Deepest Questions in Hamlet and The House of Mirth”
This thesis addresses the mysteries of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Wharton's House of Mirth, which provoke questions for both the characters, Lily Bart and Hamlet, and the reader. She describes Lily and Hamlet as philosophers who seek to find the truth, thus inspiring the reader to also seek the truth with them. Although the journey of Hamlet and Lily may seem like a puzzle to be solved, Clare ends with Socrates, the greatest philosopher, quoting his famous adage, “I know that I know nothing,” a paradox leading to the necessity of humility to ultimately find the truth. Clare’s thesis has a strong argument, beautiful writing, fresh insight, and genuine originality. With a careful close reading and in-depth analysis of the text, along with her exhaustive research, Clare artfully puts together a philosophical, theological, and literary approach to the mysteries of life that calls us to ponder and reflect on becoming a humble philosopher in our own lives.

Lily M. ‘25, “Flourishing at the Intersection of Fury and Faith: Cosmic Order in Homer and Melville”
A comparative of two ethic written thousands of years apart, this thesis qualifies the rage and motivation of Achilles from the Iliad as just because of his ultimate submission to the gods, while Captain Ahab’s rage in Moby Dick as disordered as he scorns the natural order, and thereby, the divine. Mature in style and sophisticated in subject matter, Lily’s thesis proves that these two texts, when looked at side by side, allude to man’s place in the cosmos, a progression from law and justice to grace and communion.
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    • The winners of the Edwina Maksym Senior Thesis Award, from left to right: Lily M. '25, Clare H. '25, and Van H. '25

    • Van H. '25 presenting her winning thesis on Christian morality and heroism.

    • Clare H. '25 presenting her winning thesis on faith and mystery.

    • Lily M. '25 presenting her winning thesis on faith, fury, and the cosmic order.

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