Senior of the Week: Chieko Imamura

By Anvi Bhate, Lauren Kim, and Chengyue Zhang

In the twisting corridors of Merrill Hall, the soft clickety-clack of knitting needles rings through the walls, as Proctor and senior Chieko Imamura teach her fellow Merrillites the art of knitting. They slurp on Orangina’s and laugh as they catch up, Imamura’s joy lighting up what has been a very stressful week. 

Many fellow proctors associate Imamura with not only her love of knitting, but also her positivity and willingness to teach others. Imamura also began a legacy of crosswords at The Exonian, named “Chieko’s Crossword Corner,” and serves as a training director for the WPEA radio station. 

Reminiscing on her pre-Academy days, Imamura spoke about what sparked her desire to apply to Exeter: “I have an older brother and when he came to this age, I went with him on tours to prep schools. I remember being little and staring at the tank in the science center, or going to see the pool,” Imamura said. “I was just always drawn to an independent life that I always thought was reserved for college students, but here you could have that in high school.”

Since her prep year, Imamura has involved herself in various activities all over campus. “I’m very into community building clubs like tour guiding,” Imamura said. “I really fell in love with tour guiding and talking to prospective students. Here’s their first impression of this place, and I love Exeter to an unhealthy extent, so just being able to show other people that is so amazing. It makes you feel really good.”

Imamura is also involved in her dorm community as a proctor. “[Being a proctor] is one of the most important things to me. I actually love this dorm so much,” she said. “I love the wack [weird] smell that [Wetherall] brings. I love the crusty walls.”

Imamura adds her share of positivity and laughter to the dorm. History Instructor Troy Samuels described her unique sense of humor that brightens up any room: “Conversation with Chieko often ends with laughter and just general kind of good vibes all around.”

Senior Ela Andreassen agreed with the sentiment. “I think she’s a very joyful person. Every time you see her she’s always happy and making the best of things,” Andreassen explained. “Especially when things get really stressful, she’s always a nice presence.” 

Senior Anna Tran reflected on one of her favorite memories of Chieko. “It was a Friday night and we were just playing music in our room and it was getting kind of loud, so we had proctors coming by telling us to be quiet,” Tran described. “But then the proctors joined in and then we turned the music up. It became like a little dance party in our room. There were a bunch of people stopping by. Then the dorm faculty came by and told us we were being way too loud, so Chieko and I took our speakers and went to the common room and it just became like a huge dorm dance party.” 

Besides being an avid part of the school community, Imamura was also an involved member of The Exonian’s humor section. Imamura described the moment she decided to start writing crosswords when she was sitting in Grill with her friends one afternoon. “It felt fun to do because it was a puzzle, but you could make cultural references or references to seniors. It could just make people smile,” Imamura explained. “It’s something I’m really proud of, because I had never made a crossword before and just learned that skill on my own.”

Imamura constantly is seeking ways to expand her skillset. Starting her lower year, Imamura explored her creative side with her own radio show. “It’s been cool seeing her getting so involved with her radio show and helping other people out with theirs,” Tran mentioned.

Senior Tommy Seidel agreed. “She leaves a generation of extremely well-trained radio DJs,” he said. 

In her own words, Imamura is most talented at the games Snake, Mindsweeper, and 2048. “My brother and I have such a large age gap, but we’re also really close, so we compete in random things like Minesweeper or 2048,” Imamaura said. 

Alongside those, she also spent many of her quarantine days practicing memorization. “I used to really want to be a memory champion,” Imamura said, shedding light on her childhood dreams. “Now I can memorize a whole deck of cards in 10 minutes.”  

One of Imamura’s most prominent attributes, both to herself and those around her, is her ability to not be confined within a “box,” and express herself in many different ways in different areas. 

“She listens to Green Day while also loving Adele,” Senior Moksha Akil said. “A lot of people in high school feel the pressure to stick within one box and I don’t think she has done that. I think she’s very much been able to be herself.”  

Imamura continued, giving advice to students still figuring out the paths of their Exeter career: “I just feel like putting [myself] in a box is kind of unproductive because it’s important to recognize that even though you’re not the best at [something] doesn’t mean that you’re not good at it or you don’t love it. You don’t have to be exceptional at everything. You don’t have to work so hard that you don’t get any sleep. You don’t have to make your Exeter time a miserable time. I think keeping that in mind has made me go to concerts on Tuesday nights or watch new Marvel movies when they come out.”

Imamura’s friends commented on the ways she’s changed since their prep year. “I think she’s gotten a lot more assured of who she is. She’s sort of come into her own as a person who exists outside of people’s needs for her and what they need her to be. She’s become more self-confident and self assured.” Andreassen said. 

Seidel described Imamura’s growth over the past years. “She’s always been a thoughtful student inside and outside the classroom, but I’m glad to have seen her become more confident with her absolutely fire contributions in class. She deserves it!” 

“I can’t imagine my time at Exeter without Chieko,” Tran reflected. “She’s one of my best friends, and she’s always there for the people around her. She has so much good and love to give, and I’m so happy to have been one of the people to receive that from her.”

Samuels had similar thoughts, describing the long-lasting legacy Imamura would leave on Exeter. “I think, in a few years, Chieko will be one of those legendary heroes of the past who have passed the hollow halls of these dorms. [She is] who you hear about as new dorm faculty,” Samuels commented, “She’s going to be one of those larger than life characters who will be remembered on campus, just for everything that she is as a student, as an Exonian, and as one of those really memorable people.”