Earlier this semester, Tessa Chaffee, a senior at Laguna High School, received the Student of the Month award from the Rotary Club of Sebastopol Sunrise. For over 20 years, the Rotary Club of Sebastopol Sunrise has honored Laguna High School students with this award for outstanding achievement, including responsibility, attendance, cooperation with others, and academic performance.
“I am surprised that people have noticed how hard I’ve been working lately,” she shared.
Tessa spent a year at Maria Carillo and a semester at Analy before joining Laguna High School in the second semester of her sophomore year. With its welcoming staff, wellness resources, and smaller community, Tessa thrived at Laguna. She went from being told she wasn’t on track to graduate to graduating early and pursuing a career she is passionate about.
Tessa has meaningful and very specialized post-secondary plans– mortuary cosmetology.
This career path would have her preparing the deceased for open-casket viewing. While morbid on the surface, Tessa’s interest in this profession is rooted in compassion and service to others. She wants to help give families comforting final memories of their loved ones.
Tessa grew up around the beauty industry and always imagined herself in that world. When she later became interested in being a crime scene investigator, she combined her two interests to find her dream job. Tessa has a lot of respect for the dead; she says that death is the only thing in life that is guaranteed. As someone who feared death herself, Tessa shares some helpful perspective, “There are different theories on what happens after you die, pick what you think is best for you because no one actually knows.”
What’s next for Tessa? After graduating from Laguna, Tessa will be working to save money to attend cosmetology school. She considers herself a planner and finds the uncertainty of the future scary, “living is scarier than dying to me now,” she says.
In her free time, Tessa enjoys her “me-time,” painting her nails, doing her makeup, and getting creative using Pinterest and Instagram to find inspiration when she needs it. Her go-to makeup look is light on the face and complexion with a bold lip and her meticulously styled eyebrows. Tessa has been thinning out her eyebrows for 3 years and takes great pride in having curated her personal style, which has become a part of her identity.
Tessa reiterates her love for the staff at Laguna, sharing that it was the best thing that ever happened to her. The small environment, caring staff, and the connection she built with the people and resources on campus gave her a sense of belonging. When she didn’t feel successful or supported at other schools, Tessa found her place at Laguna.