Kyle Mullins walks out of his AP Literature exam with a smile on his face. When asked how it went, Kyle coolly responds, "It was better than I expected! But I can't talk details because that's against the College Board's rules. But let's just say I really enjoyed the poetry essay!" This, in a nutshell, is Kyle: calm but confident; smart and cheerful; ever the rule-follower.
Kyle's tenacious pursuit for the truth and knowledge seems to have defined his Shorecrest career. His second grade teacher, Marion O'Mullane, remembers Kyle as having a thirst for knowledge. "He was particularly interested in studying the seven continents and told me how much he wanted to explore them some day." But he wasn't just smart and inquisitive, "What touches me most about Kyle is that even years later, he stops by and says hello and asks me how I'm doing, with that same upbeat attitude and warm friendly smile. He is that special student a teacher never forgets."
His first grade teacher, Mrs. Whitecage, remembers him as "an adult trapped in a six-year-old's body. He looked six, but he behaved and spoke like a man in his 40s!"
Even today, Kyle seems much more mature than his 18 years. When asked about one of the most memorable parts of his high school career, Kyle begins speaking about his experience serving on the school's Honor Council. The Shorecrest Student Honor Council is an organization of students who promote and uphold personal and academic integrity within the Upper School community by advancing and enforcing the Honor Code. "I remember sitting in Freshman orientation. One of the goals of Orientation is to help students understand the expectations of them in the Upper School. I remember hearing from members of the Honor Council as they spoke to us about the importance of the honor code in the Upper School." Kyle says he knew right away that he wanted to run for Honor Council. "I've always been a stick-to-the-rules, stick-to-the-process kind of guy, and I'm sure that helped me get elected!"
Kyle jumped right into his Council service. He smiles as he remembers that very first Honor Council meeting. "My class was lucky because toward the end of our first year, there was a case in front of the Honor Council, so we got to sit in and learn before we were actually members of the Council. But I didn't quite realize it was a training session and I started asking questions of the student in front of the Council. Dean Sessions had to pull me aside to tell me to stop asking questions as I wasn't yet on the Council. I seemed to have missed that memo!"