Caroline Figaro, who graduates this year from Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg, Maryland, has played the cello for 14 of her 18 years. She recalls taking lessons when she was a kindergarten student.

“While the other kids were taking a nap, my mom would take me to cello lessons,” she said. Over the years, she was a member first of the College Park, Maryland Youth Orchestra and later the D.C. Youth Orchestra.

So accomplished is the young cellist that she performed in Portugal and Spain with the D.C. Youth Orchestra and was principal cellist with the orchestra’s philharmonic division.

She was also principal cellist with Seton’s Honors Orchestra and the Washington Archdiocesan Teachers Council Honors Orchestra. She also teaches young cellists during summer orchestra camp.

“The cello helps me communicate with everyone because music is a universal language,” Figaro said. “I hope that whatever someone is going through, my music helps them hear what they need or want to hear.”

She has also played the cello at Woodstream Baptist Church in Bowie, Maryland, where she and her parents – Dr. K. Michael Figaro and Cheli English-Figaro, a lawyer – are members. Caroline also has an older brother, Brandon and an older sister, Alexandra.

When not in the concert hall, Figaro could be found on an ice skating rink. She is a two- time U.S. Figure Skating Association national gold medalist, and was a recipient of that organization’s gold level graduating senior award. She is also a former synchronized ice skater.

At Seton, Figaro was a co-creator of the Seton Speaks Program; student representative to the Black Lives Matter group; was a student ambassador and a student mentor. She was a member of the National Honor Society and the Tri-M Music Honor Society, serving at various times as secretary and treasurer of the organization. She was president of the school’s Diamonds Club, which models body positivity and focuses on girl empowerment. She also participated in the Junior States of America Club of Elizabeth Seton High School.

She is also a past recipient of Seton’s Junior Spanish Award and Citizenship Award.

Outside of school, she was a member of and formerly served as first vice president of the Prince George’s County Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, a leadership organization founded 85 years ago by African American mothers to bring together young people in a social and cultural environment.

She also participated in her church’s interpretative dance ministry and volunteered there by cleaning the church and the homes of elderly church members. She has also volunteered with the Capital Area Food Bank.

In looking at colleges and universities, Figaro was accepted by and in some cases offered scholarships to several prestigious schools, including Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Maryland, and Boston University. She chose to attend Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

“Yale just had the best community – a very collaborative community. It did not feel competitive. I felt very comfortable there,” she said. “And, my mom is over moon – I think she is more excited than me at times – because she is a Yale graduate.”

At Yale, Figaro will study ethics, politics, and economics with an eye to a future career as a corporate lawyer.

“I want to help businesses as a lawyer, but I want to make sure I keep my ethical morality in check,” she said in explaining her choice of undergraduate study. “I feel like I can make decisions really well, and when corporations need someone to fight for them, I feel I would be a great fit.”

Although she is not a Catholic, my mom wanted me to go (to Seton). I didn’t want to at first, but once I got into it, I really liked it,” she said. She will graduate from the all-girls high school sponsored by the Daughters of Charity with a 4.35 grade point average.

As she prepares to leave Seton, Figaro said appreciates the education she received there.
 “The things that they teach at Catholic school are things that everyone needs to learn,” she said. “I feel enlightened by my education here, and it is a very good education. I wouldn’t have gone to Yale without it.”