Apparatchik: A loyal follower to a person, often a political leader, regardless of their actions.

If you haven’t seen this word in your Membean yet, you’re not alone.

For many students, Membean is a quick assignment to help us get a good grade in english class, but not for Connor Licht

On Thursday, March 13, Licht finished his last high school level of Membean that is offered on the platform.

Licht is a sophomore at Gibbons whose passion for life inspires many others. At Gibbons, Licht is part of the swimming team, helps run a number of clubs, and loves to help volunteer in our Spiritual Life community.

 “I love to grow in my Catholic faith through prayer and the Mass,” said Licht in an email response. 

Licht credits God for the blessings in his life, especially the people who have helped him advance in his academic career to reach goals that he has worked incredibly hard on.

Membean offers six levels in their High School category, and Licht said that it has been a goal of his to beat it since the beginning of freshman year. Connor credits much of his support and encouragement to his ninth-grade English teacher Mrs. Rokita.

“My ninth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Rokita, was very supportive of my goal to finish the program, inspiring me to put in the work and continue to learn new words,” said Licht. 

Membean provides videos on their platform for students to understand a word better, and many students will watch the videos on repeat so the time goes by quicker – but not Connor.

Students can tend to believe that the reason Connor might have beaten Membean so quickly is because he dedicated time outside of school to practice. Licht emphasized that dedicating the 15 minutes he gets in class has helped him achieve this level, not spending time outside of school to reach this accomplishment. As long as Connor spent all his time focused on doing Membean, this is what helped him finish.

Congratulations Connor for this achievement!