Tribute to Dean Sarullo: Student Perspective

Written By Irmak Karayal

The first person I met when I moved to Scarsdale during my second semester of sophomore year was Dean Sarullo. On my first day, after I got lost getting from the Post Road entrance to her office, she gave me a tour of the school, showing me the gyms, the library, the cafeteria, and the rooms in which my new classes were located - all of which seemed like part of an endless labyrinth at the time. She told me the curved hallway leading to the gyms was her favorite, and was the only curved hallway in the school, making it easier to remember. She told me to avoid the set of stairs that led up to the roof, although I immediately forgot which set it actually was, and spent my first two weeks of school avoiding empty staircases in fear that I would end up on the roof.

During our tour, while I struggled to separate the identical hallways from one another, a senior girl stopped Dean Sarullo and, after hugging her, asked if she had enjoyed her muffins. Dean Sarullo enthusiastically complimented her on her baking skills and thanked her before resuming our tour. At the time, I failed to understand why people were baking muffins for Dean Sarullo, but as the year progressed, I realized she deserves infinite baskets full of muffins for the things she does every day. She made my first day at Scarsdale High School much easier than I expected it to be, and hopefully, her guide on her first day at her new school will be skillful enough to do the same.

Dean Sarullo helped me become acclimated to Scarsdale High School, both socially and academically. Throughout sophomore and junior year, she constantly made sure that I knew her door was always open, and when I took advantage of that fact, was more than helpful with whatever I needed. At times, the process of changing schools was frustrating- my old course schedule did not match with the classes I had been taking before, and my old grades were on a different scale- but Sarullo somehow managed to adapt my old to my new every time problems arose. When I first came here, I expected relationships with deans to be formal and academic, but my conversations with Dean Sarullo have been comprised of broad topics, some related to school, and some not related at all.

As junior year arrived, our talks became more centered around college, but even those were not as painful as I expected them to be. Although I imagined having one of my weekly frees taken away for Junior Seminar to be a sign that the college process would be torturous, it turned out to be more than tolerable, though fun would be slightly stretching it, due to the topic of discussion. Dean Sarullo’s attitude during our Junior Seminars made all the difference; she made light of the college process by having us play college admission games and mocking the students who accidently sent in letters to colleges saying their dream was to go to Harvard while applying to Yale. She gave us very real advice without adding stress, and helped us set our goals high, no matter how lonely our Naviance circles seemed to be.

Selfishly, I feel sorry my classmates- juniors who will begin and complete senior year without Sarullo’s presence, but I feel even sorrier for this year’s sophomores, whose junior years will be void of Dean Sarullo’s informative, yet funny college advice. I feel sorriest for the incoming freshmen that will flood our school, for they will have neither the opportunity nor the luck to have Dean Sarullo as their dean, to help them through their high school years providing not only guidance, but also friendship. We shall all miss Dean Sarullo greatly, for she has made a lasting impact on our lives and will continue to do so regardless of which school she is at.