Anna Diederich '17

After graduating from Oakcrest School, Anna Diederich ‘17 studied chemical engineering with a concentration in biomolecular engineering at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. As she prepared to graduate four years later, she thought about how she might spend a few years before applying to medical school, and when she heard that Oakcrest School was looking for a math teacher, she jumped at the opportunity. 

“It was somewhat spur of the moment,” Ms. Diederich remembers. “It was very much so not what I was thinking I was going to do, but when it came down to it, it perfectly fit what I wanted to do.” 

Ms. Diederich had loved her time as a math tutor in college, helping other students build confidence and ability in their math skills, and had very fond memories of her own high school math teacher, Dr. Claraines Deeb, who taught AP math courses at Oakcrest. 

“I really benefited from her,” Ms. Diederich said. “Her teaching and her class did a really good job of preparing me for my math classes, but I also appreciated how she had taken time to know me as a student and as a person, to see my strengths and be able to lead me toward an academic discipline in college that would use those strengths.

“I benefited from having a teacher like her and now I get to be that teacher for my students.” 

As an Oakcrest alumna, Ms. Diederich knows well how the Oakcrest education provided her with the tools she needed to thrive in college, and beyond, as she prepares to attend medical school. 

Something Ms. Diederich immediately realized during college was how different her Oakcrest experience was from the high school experiences of her peers. 

“They all came from very different communities and the depth of their friendships were very different. People would even talk about the social dynamic at their high school as ‘cut throat’. I had a lot of smart, driven friends at Oakcrest but never felt like we were competing against one another. Clearly this was not the norm,” Ms. Diederich explained. 

Another thing that set her apart from others during her undergrad years was her confidence to speak up in the classroom. 

“Year after year, I’d take these lecture classes alongside female classmates who had impressive backgrounds and yet never raised their hands in class, or when they did, they would apologize before they did so, repeatedly,” Ms. Diederich said. “These girls would undercut themselves, and I consistently saw this in my math and science classes.

“Having a basis of going to an all-girls school where you see female role models who are educated and accomplished, intelligent and well-spoken women in these fields of math and science, gave me a lot of confidence. That was something that having a female environment gave me the confidence to thrive in college, and I want to pass that along to my students. We have to learn to build each other up, not sell ourselves short. You don’t need to apologize for answering a question. You’re contributing, and that’s a good thing.” 

Some of Ms. Diederich’s favorite Oakcrest traditions are Spirit Weeks, when she loves to go all-out on dress-up days, and watching the sister families grow together over the years. Ms. Diederich also serves as a senior class dean, which she enjoys. 

“It’s challenging because the seniors are at a point in high school when they’re preparing to step out into an unknown reality and there can be a lot of anxiety that comes with that, especially when they hear inaccurate depictions of what college could be like. I have the opportunity to change that narrative,” Ms. Diederich says. “I get to spend time with them and mentor them and put them in a better position to go out and be young women of character in the world.” 

Ms. Diederich plans to attend medical school at the University of Virginia in the fall of 2023.