Keller ’19: A Superstar on the Field and Off

Lilly Keller ’19 is a competitor. She grew up playing soccer with her older sister, Claire, who recruited Lilly as a stand-in goalie. Keller took the role seriously, doing her best to keep the shots out of the net. When it came time for Keller to decide which high school to attend, then, Claire ’15 knew exactly the part to play.

“Claire went to NCS and told me not to come here because I probably couldn’t handle it. Immediately, my brain was like, well, now I have to go,” said Keller, who learned the truth behind this story only this past year. Her sister guessed that, had Lilly been told how much she’d love NCS, she probably wouldn’t have gone. “I mean, you’re not wrong,” Keller laughed. “And I have absolutely loved my time here.”

In addition to playing varsity soccer at NCS and on a club team outside of school, Keller is a varsity member of the NCS lacrosse and basketball teams. She has played basketball since she was little and was recruited by an NCS coach to play lacrosse during her freshman year.

“I’d never seen a game of lacrosse, but I was totally up for trying, and I played varsity all four years. It was sort of trial by fire, but it’s been awesome,” she said.

Keller is also co-president of the Black Student Union, a student ambassador for the admissions office, and a member of Upper School Chorale and the a cappella group Sarsaparilla.

“It’s definitely taught me how to manage my time,” she said of her busy weekday schedule.

The Black Student Union has been an integral part of Keller’s NCS experience. As co-president, she organized meetings, recruited new members, and helped arrange a forum for students from other D.C. independent schools, where they discussed what it’s like to be a minority in their school communities, how to make their voices heard, and issues facing minority groups.

“I’m mixed[-race], and I’ve always made an effort to embrace both sides of who I am,” said Keller. “It’s been about not only embracing the black side of myself but also helping the black community be more understood, which is really important.”

Keller’s love for NCS comes through when she talks about being a student ambassador. When families ask why their child should attend the school, she tells them about the relationships, how she has made some of her closest friends here and has the freedom to be herself.

“One of the things I think is so cool about NCS is that, at a lot of other schools, you just do sports or you just do music. And if you do sports, you’re cool, and if you do music, you’re kind of a nerd. But here, my teammates are like, ‘Oh, you’re in Sarsaparilla? That’s awesome,’ ” she said. “Being able to learn and exist in an environment where I can be fully comfortable with myself is amazing.”

Keller plans to intern on Capitol Hill this summer with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), who spoke to NCS students in 2018 as part of the school’s observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Keller will play goalie for Swarthmore College in the fall, where she wants to study political science and economics to become a lawyer like her parents.