Sabrina Movitz: Melodious Movitz

On the assembly hall stage, senior Sabrina Movitz stands at the center of the a cappella oval formed by members of PEADs, Exeter’s only co-ed a cappella group. “When the days are cold and the cards all fold,” Movitz begins to sing the first line of her solo for Imagine Dragon’s “Demons.” The crowd immediately starts cheering, and the show continues with a heightened sense of energy and excitement that permeates from her voice.This is just one of the many snapshots of Movitz that depicts her incomparable energy and positivity. One of the activities that capture this facet of Movitz is singing; she has been a member of PEADs and In Essence, one of the three all female a cappella groups on campus, for all four years at Exeter, and a co-head of PEADs for two.Regarding Movitz’s skills as a vocalist and leadership as a co-head, members of PEADs and In Essence expressed their admiration and reverence.Senior Tori Dakin described Movitz as “the perfect leader -- pushing the group to perform at our highest quality while simultaneously helping us be as tight knit and supportive as we are.”Lower Peter Chinburg agreed, and said that “she is an uplifting presence in the group who always makes peads a fun time, and she knows when to be serious if we need to get something done.”Movitz’s musical ability shines through other clubs as well. Through organizations like Exeter Association of Rock, along with numerous other individual and group performances in evening prayers and other campus events, she has become known as one of the school’s most prolific and talented musicians.Senior Conrad Diao said that he tries to watch all of her performances because “raw talent aside, Sabrina always sings with a playful passion that captivates all.”Apart from her involvement in on-campus music groups, Movitz also writes original music. She said that she wrote her first song when she was eleven years old “in the back seat of my dad’s car on a road trip, with the electric guitar, before I even knew what chords I was playing.” Since then, she has been writing original songs in various styles and genres. For example, two summers ago she went to Nashville to “work with producers and songwriters and record company execs on actual music production,” and there, she recorded her first original EP, I’m Confessin’.

Senior Tori Dakin described Movitz as “the perfect leader -- pushing the group to perform at our highest quality while simultaneously helping us be as tight knit and supportive as we are.”

That summer, Movitz was offered a deal with a record label, but turned it down. “I wouldn’t have been able to go to college, and I want to go to college,” she said.At Exeter, Sabrina has also been actively involved in the ESSO as well. Since her prep year, Movitz has been participating in the group Music For Life, a club that plays music at various assisted living homes around Exeter. She became co-head of the club her upper year, when she made significant changes to how the club was run such as the recruitment process,  number of nursing homes, and the incorporation of time apart from performances to allow seniors to have social interactions with the members of the club.Regarding her involvement and passion for ESSO, Maureen Costello, ESSO’s Program Assistant, commented on Movitz’s positive spirit as well as her organized manner.“Sabrina has been a very upbeat, cheerful, positive and organized member of ESSO,” Costello. “She always, always strived to do better in her clubs.”Last spring, Movitz was also selected as the co-president of ESSO, along with senior Saisha Talwar. Movitz came by this position in an interesting way, because she did not actually apply for it.She explained, “I applied as a coordinator and I didn’t even think I was gonna get that, because I’d only been a club head for one year. But I came into the interview with some ideas for how to really change ESSO, and I guess they liked my ideas because they made me a co-president instead.”Talwar said that Movitz’s leadership can be defined by collectivity and empathy.“She is really good at ‘leading from behind’ at board meetings. What I mean is that she never dominates the discussion, even with her title as co president,” Talwar said.Senior Natasha Lim, who is also involved in ESSO, added that Movitz “never forgets that the core of ESSO is non sibi. At the end of the day, what she does is for the good of the community and this inspires me to be ESSO leader like her.”Costello said that before Movitz became the co-president she emphasized to Costello and Elizabeth Reyes, ESSO’s Community Service Coordinator, that she wishes to create a tightly-knit group of dedicated students. Costello said that Movitz succeeded in doing so.“She wanted to have a cohesive group. She wanted to build a team. That was one of her goals and she succeeded,” Costello said. “She’s a team-builder and that’s her strength.”Reyes echoed Costello’s sentiments and also commented on Movtiz’s work as the co-president.“Sabrina is just simply fabulous,” Reyes said. “Sabrina has been doing a fantastic job as co-president. I admire her smile and ‘can-do’ attitude.”Movitz’s friends and colleagues in ESSO and PEADs have also praised her character. Dakin said that, “Sabrina is filled with an infectious enthusiasm for life. She's willing to make an adventure out of every moment of the day, even though you know that she always has another club meeting to attend or homework to finish.”Senior Will Li agreed. “She's positive, driven, and intelligent. She's just always smiling. She'll greet you on campus wherever you are, and her enthusiasm is contagious in everything she does.”Upper Jan Stratmann echoed Li’s sentiments.“She's an Exonian idol, lives the motto of non sibi, and makes daily lives of Exonians more varying by her engagement in the musical department,” he said.After Exeter, Movitz said that she hopes to be involved in international relations and environmental law.“As of right now, my other main interest is China,” Movitz said. “I’ve lived for about six months in China in all different places and taken Chinese for four years here, and it’s also a very big part of who I am. When I came to Exeter, I really wanted to be a professional musician, and now that I’m about to leave Exeter, I’m hoping to do something a little more concrete with my impact on the world, so I’m hoping to go into a combination of US-China foreign policy and environmental law.”