To be successful, you should feel like you’re failing. At least, that’s what keeps Natan motivated, especially in the history classes he can’t get enough of at Commonwealth. Those history lessons dovetail perfectly with his other great passion: politics. And while national politics might dominate the headlines, Natan knows the real action is local. “There's drama, things are happening, and it's where you can really make a change, especially as a teenager.” Keep reading for his advice for other students hoping to make an impact, plus his recess shoutouts, the key to good grilled cheese, and the Commonwealth club everyone should join…

Getting to Know You

What is bringing you joy right now?

My dog, Toffee. He's seventy pounds of chocolate Labrador. He tends to sleep on my bed and then keeps encroaching on my space. He’s so stupid. He's a delightful, delightful dog. 

What is your favorite book (or a book you’ve re-read)? 

I can't pick a favorite. My pretentious answer would be Heart of Darkness [by Joseph Conrad]. But I really do like silly fantasy novels, like something probably Brandon Sanderson wrote.

What do you think is the most intriguing paradox? 

Bertrand Russell's set theory paradox, which is equivalent, actually, to the barber paradox Iris ’27 mentioned in her interview. The plain-English version of Russell’s paradox is, Does the set of all sets which do not contain themselves contain itself? It's really a great paradox, because it changed pure math when it was discovered. It undermined attempts at a foundational, internally consistent set theory and pushed mathematicians towards different types of set theory that aren’t contradictory (or we at least haven’t found the contradictions yet).

What are your favorite comfort foods? 

Good grilled cheese. There needs to be butter at every step of the process. That's crucial.

What was/is your favorite class (at Commonwealth or elsewhere)?

Impossible to answer. I'm torn between every history class I've taken here—so that would be Ancient History with Ms. Budding, Medieval History with Ms. Aparicio, U.S. History with Ms. Haber, and then Empires and Nationalism with Ms. Budding again this year.

Related: Explore Commonwealth's History Curriculum

When do you feel the most enjoyably challenged?

Also in all of those history classes. Writing okay comes pretty easily to me, but writing really well is a perpetual challenge. When I feel more immediately challenged by math or physics problems, after I solve the problem, I feel like I'm done—whereas no matter how much time I spend reviewing and revising and changing every word, I still feel like I'm missing something when I write. And I love that feeling.

What never fails to make you laugh?

Again, my dog. It's really easy to be amused by him, because he thinks he's very clever. He's just so, so stupid. 

What are people most surprised to learn about you?

I'm a twin. 

Pen or pencil?

Pencil. I make too many mistakes.

Coffee or tea?

Hot chocolate.

Fall, winter, spring, or summer?

Winter. I like the snow. I like the rain. I like cold days. It's very peaceful, and no one else likes them, so I can enjoy them.

Life as a Commonwealth Student (and Beyond)

What was your first impression of Commonwealth and how has it mapped to your experience?

One of the first classes I visited was Bible-as-History, Bible-as-Bible with Ms. Haber, and I was so fascinated. Everyone was so interested. Everyone had opinions. Everyone had strong thoughts. (I was also very cocky during my visit; I disagreed with what people were saying.) And I thought, “I want to go to a school where everyone cares about things in their classes, and they want to be there, and they have strong opinions.” I think that has played out. I’m happy with my choices.

Using metrics besides grades, how do you define “success” in your classes?

When you do well grades-wise but feel like you can achieve higher standards, that's success. I think the struggle and the feeling of inadequacy is really important, because it means that you have unlocked some ability to go deeper, to go further, to find some new thing. True mastery of a subject is knowing how much you don’t know. That’s very unsatisfying, certainly, because you never feel like you're good enough, but I think that's when you know you've really succeeded.

You have a clear passion for politics and policy, doing two Project Weeks with your state representative, writing research papers on such topics as 250 years of Brookline Town Meetings, and becoming deeply engaged in Commonwealth clubs like Model UN, COMMUN, Debate, and Mock Trial. What ignited this interest? What sustains it?

I've always been vaguely interested in politics, but when I came here, I quickly became friends with Jay Sweitzer-Shalit '24. He's also a Brookline native and was really involved with local politics. I realized, in talking to Jay, that there is this big municipal political scene: there's drama, things are happening, and it's where you can really make a change, especially as a teenager. That made me think about how I could participate in politics instead of just observing. And it's just been really interesting work. I found a lot of the things I enjoy in my history studies: the writing, the analysis, the competing motives, all these things are also present in politics. And I found working for my state representative—Greg Schwartz, 12th Middlesex—that I can make a meaningful difference, even as a minor working part time. 

Recently, over Project Week, I did a lot of research into all of these proposed immigration bills: the exact language, how they compare to each other, what provisions they include, what the news outlets were saying about them, and what the news outlets missed. And with all that research, Representative Schwartz knows more about the state of these bills and can support them. Now, when his constituents call him and say, “What are you doing to stop ICE?” he has an answer: he's supporting these bills, and here is what they do, and here is why he’s supporting them. Perhaps that’s in part due to my humble work, and I think that's nice.

What’s your advice for other young people hoping to get involved and make their voices heard in politics, particularly before they can vote?

People should attend their town meetings and speak at them if there are warrant articles or bills that they feel passionate about. And interning with your state representative is a really meaningful thing young people can do. Most state representatives only have one overworked, underpaid staffer and 40,000 people they represent. Even as a fifteen-, sixteen-, seventeen-year-old, you can make a huge difference, because you’re increasing their office’s capacity. I also think activism, like the Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition Advocacy Day, can be a meaningful way to enact change. (I'm personally not very involved in that anymore; I found that working at the State House precludes one from also lobbying the State House. It's not technically illegal as long as you aren’t getting paid, but it feels unethical, because if you're advising your representative, it's a breach of trust to also be lobbying them.) But pick one of those and do it a lot. 

How has your Commonwealth experience colored the way you look at the world? How you plan for your future?

I have years to decide, but it's not unlikely that I will end up in law or politics. I'm also considering whether I want to go into academia; history research, perhaps unsurprisingly, really fascinates me. And part of why I love doing this political work so much is because, at the end of the day, it's just a lot of research. So a job in academia where I could just do more research would be delightful. 

And as for how Commonwealth has influenced me, as I was saying, meeting Jay really ignited my interest in local and state politics, instead of just national. And Model UN, Debate, and Mock Trial at Commonwealth have really stoked those fires.

When do you feel most connected to other students (or teachers/staff members) in our community?

At recess, people announce such a wide variety of things. And even though it's a tiny school, I still feel like I don't get so much exposure to every corner of it. I don't play basketball—I wouldn't say I'm a very sporty person—but you hear these rousing basketball announcements from Ben ’26 and Bridget ’26 and Jasmine ’26, and it's fun. But it's also a window into what everyone is thinking and doing. Sol ’27 announced when there was an attempted coup in South Korea [in 2024], and I never would have known that, and I never would have known that Sol knew that. Through those announcements, you can connect more.

What would you tell your ninth-grade self?

Be more humble. I did really well in middle school, and so I thought I would do really well in high school. I was just going to keep succeeding forever! I learned pretty quickly that was not going to be the case—when I started getting tests back and I realized that I wasn't, in fact, perfect. It would have been good to disabuse myself of that notion earlier. 

Anything you'd like to add?

Everyone should consider joining Mock Trial. I think a lot of people are scared by the fact that I keep making announcements about all the things we have to do, but you can do Mock Trial in a low-commitment manner, and it’s a lot of fun. There's a lot of critical thinking and a lot of research. There's also a lot of theater to it. And you don’t actually need to know how the legal system works. 

This was our first year doing the Massachusetts Bar Association State Mock Trial tournament, and there were a lot of schools there that had six years of experience for everyone on the team, but we still managed to win one of our trials, which is very exciting, and we learned so, so much. 

Meet More Commonwealth Students