When Sophie Epshteyn graduates as a member of the class of 2026 at the Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, Maryland, she will carry with her what she learned as a “Lady of the Academy.”
Epshteyn, a top student, leader and member of the dance team at the Academy of the Holy Cross, will be attending Georgetown University’s Berkley School of Nursing.
“I think nursing is going to be so strenuous. I think Holy Cross has definitely helped prepare me for that. They’ve given me such a strong community and support system,” she said.
In going to Georgetown, she will be close to home, as she has been through her years in Catholic elementary and high school. The 18-year-old daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Epshteyn of Garrett Park, Maryland, is a graduate of Holy Cross School in that town where her brother Jack is a student, and the family attends Holy Cross Church, which is located near the Academy of the Holy Cross.
“My whole life is within a two-mile radius,” she joked, adding that she appreciates that in attending Georgetown in Washington, she will be close to her parents and younger brother.
In the summer of 2025, she had the opportunity to shadow nurses at Children’s National Hospital, where she admired how the nurses interacted with a wide range of people and “the way they’re a support system for the whole family.”
Inspired by what she observed there, Epshteyn organized a school supply donations drive for the hospital, collecting more than 1,000 items.
This spring after completing her class work at Holy Cross, she spent her senior internship shadowing nurses working in intensive care units at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. She said after being a part of the Holy Cross community, she is looking forward to being a part of a nursing community dedicated to helping others.
For the past two years, she has been the captain of the Adrenaline Dance Team at Holy Cross, which rehearses after school for twice-yearly performances.
“I’ve danced for as long as I can remember,” said Epshteyn, who began dancing around the age of 2. Since 2018, she has been a member of the CityDance Conservatory in Bethesda, where she has done different styles of dancing including ballet, modern, jazz, hip hop and world dances from Africa and Asia, including a performance at the Embassy of Sri Lanka.
The Holy Cross graduating senior said that while practicing dancing for more than 15 hours a week can be demanding physically and mentally, she enjoys the combination of dancing’s physicality and artistry, and she has benefited from the time management, dedication and precision necessary to excel at that art form.
Epshteyn is a member of the National Honor Society, Math Honor Society and National English Honor Society. At Holy Cross, her favorite classes included Advanced Placement biology.
She served as the president of her class during her freshman and sophomore years at Holy Cross, and as the school’s Executive Board secretary as a junior and then as the board’s president during her senior year.
Those experiences, which included speaking at school assemblies, gave her the chance to develop her leadership qualities, and helped her “see the best in other people,” said Epshteyn, who has also served as a student ambassador for prospective students and families visiting Holy Cross.
“I feel so seen and known by all the teachers and adults in the building,” she said, adding, “I hope to give that same feeling back to others in all aspects of my life.”
During an all-school day of service at Holy Cross, she volunteered at a homeless women’s shelter, which taught her “to find ways to go beyond my comfort zone” in helping people in need.
The lessons she learned about her faith at Holy Cross were reinforced by her volunteer and shadowing experiences, she said. “(I learned) to honor and respect people. Even in their sickest and weakest moments, they’re people who need to be treated with dignity.”
Epshteyn said that as she prepared to graduate from the Academy of the Holy Cross, she felt a sense of pride and enthusiasm for that community, and was mindful of the importance of honoring the legacy of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and its past graduates.
Being a “Lady of the Academy,” she said, “means you’re a part of something bigger than yourself.”
