In eighth grade, Ariadne Georgiou attended a student-organized Regional Student Diversity Summit in Southern California that changed her academic course.
From then on, she has developed an extensive resumé on social issues. Throughout high school at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, she continued her involvement with the summit in its workshops committee, joined the school’s female empowerment club and interned for Harvard Law School and the National Ministry of Migration.
Ariadne graduated from Bishop’s on June 5 with the Michael W. Teitelman Loyalty Cup, the school’s top award for seniors. And the subjects she fell in love with at school figure to play a significant role in her future.
130 Bishop’s School graduates step into their next chapter
“There’s the option of going into athletics or going into arts or being a really strong student and focusing on academics,” Ariadne said of her middle school days, also at Bishop’s. “I had all those options in front of me, but none of them were exactly me.
“I think getting the option that you can have social justice or … activism be a huge part of how you spend your time and who you become in high school was a new option for me. And it ended up being what really called to me.”
The Teitelman Loyalty Cup honors a graduating senior who has consistently displayed loyalty, excellence and integrity across all aspects of student life.
Bishop’s Head of School Ron Kim said Ariadne embodies the qualities of scholarship, leadership and humanity.
School faculty selected her for the award.
“It’s staggering,” Ariadne said. “The teachers at this school are some of my favorite people I’ve ever met. I think so much of who I am and what I believe I can do has come from the way these teachers have always taken me seriously and always seemed to care about my learning and my future.”
Ariadne Georgiou approaches the stage to receive the Michael W. Teitelman Loyalty Cup at The Bishop’s School’s June 5 commencement ceremony. (Noah Lyons)
She began her time at Bishop’s as a seventh-grader, when classes were being held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It didn’t take her long to get involved. From 2020 to 2026, she participated in varsity speech and debate, Model United Nations and the Sustainable Food Security Club, which she founded.
“I basically … found my sense of self when I started at Bishop’s,” Ariadne said. “It just completely changed my life … coming into a new environment where everyone was so driven. … I found it to be really invigorating.”
It her taught her an important lesson, she said. “I don’t have to wait until I’m a certain age or I have a certain degree or I have certain access or opportunity — I can start now, even in high school. I think a lot of that was learned not from anyone telling me but [by] watching the examples of my peers.”
So when she was called to the stage to be recognized at the commencement ceremony, her mind again went to her peers.
“When I heard my name called, I just had this feeling that this is a shared award,” Ariadne said. “There are so many people who have won this with me or played into me winning this — just so many people who have supported me and inspired me.”
Ariadne Georgiou won three awards, including a gold, in the 2026 regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. (Jostens)
This isn’t the first honor she has taken home this year. In January, she was named a gold award winner in the 2026 regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. Her gold-winning poem addressed violence in relation to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Moving forward, Ariadne said she hopes to continue exploring subjects ranging from immigration and refugee protection to human-rights law. She also plans to learn Arabic, which could become her third language. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
She thanked her family, whose roots are in Ireland, Cyprus and Turkey, as well as her friends and her teachers — namely Amy Allen, Margi Bingham, Susan Middleton, Maribel Bueno, Jefferey Geoghegan, Valissa Thomas and Sarah Collamer — for their support throughout her academic career. ♦