By Chloe Miles

We humans are complex beings made up of the smallest proteins and complex molecules. Though our physical structures are more or less the same, our quirks and personalities are what make us different. A quirk of mine might include listening to heavy rap music at full volume to pump me up for school every morning. My sister Carlin Miles (‘25) really does eat an apple a day and has not seen the doctor in a considerable amount of time. My dear friend Giles Ferrell (‘24), however, has principles that run far deeper than what someone might call a typical quirk.

One of Collegiate’s best attributes, right up there with the top tier education, supportive community, and inspiring core values, would have to be the Upper School café. It is equipped with slushie makers, an espresso bar, and is home of the famous chicken biscuit. Over the course of her Upper School career, Ferrell has never bought anything from the café. One appealing aspect of the café is that a student can change their account; in other words, the school account that their parents pay. This means the feasts that we buy do not come out of our pockets directly. Ferrell explains that her mother did not want her kids “running around rampantly charging things,” as there are two other Ferrell children at Collegiate also. Her parents made it clear that it was acceptable to buy from the café, as long as she paid them back. 

Holding a free venti water from Starbucks. Photo credit: Chloe Miles.

Ferrell said, “She was really big on teaching us hard work and getting a job when we were little.” Thus, when Ferrell was only five years old, she was introduced to her first summer job: “We sold advice on the side of the road, and then advice and compliments the next year.” People stopped by and paid the Ferrell children 25 cents to tell them who would win the upcoming election, or ask for directions, or how to get a recent love interest to go on a date with them. In the beginning, they had ten-dollar days, but towards the end they had 500-dollar weeks. It was a “lucrative business,” as Ferrell puts it. Their hundred-dollar industry lasted for eight entire summers. 

At a certain point during Upper School, Ferrell realized that during her whole Middle and Upper School career, she had never purchased anything from the café and was determined to make it “her thing.”

Ferrell plainly stated, “Well, now I can’t one day just casually change my ways.” She is going to maintain her streak until the last day of Senior year, when she will purchase her first and only item from the café. She is accepting any suggestions on what she should get. 

Ferrell’s next principle pertains to bringing down corporate America. Ferrell downloaded Spotify on her iPhone two years ago for the sole purpose of listening to classical music while she wrote her English papers. She could admit that ten dollars a month for Spotify Premium was not too expensive, but when she took a step back and looked at it from a broader perspective, 120 dollars a year was absolutely not justifiable. Still, in need of a source to play her classical music, Ferrell begrudgingly decided to try out the free version, where she realized she would be forced to listen to the wretched, monotonous, never-ending Spotify ads. She exclaimed, “The Spotify ads drive me crazy! …They happen right in the middle of your good music, they mess up the flow of things, and they’re so stupid!” 

However, it is Ferrell’s passion and determination that deters her from paying for Spotify Premium: “They are trying to wear me down! They think that I am the average customer that can be worn down. They’re like, ‘If we don’t give her any skips, and we make her listen to these awful ads, she will be forced to switch to Premium. I refuse to let Spotify win this battle. I will stick it out as a user who puts up with the ads, the stupid, horrible ads, because they are not going to win this one.” 

Is it not just Spotify Premium that she has rejected. Ferrell, in fact, has “vowed” that every company that advertises their product on Spotify will never receive a cent from her. One example of this is Skittles. She explains: “This is my one moment of taking on corporate America.” 

Furthermore, Ferrell refuses to open her Spotify Wrapped, the listening habits collection that Spotify curates from each user over the past year. It includes the user’s most listened-to artist, their most listened-to song of the year, and other bits of information, which people often share on their social media in December. Ferrell assured me that, “I will not give them the satisfaction of knowing that I opened the Spotify Wrapped.” So there sits her Spotify Wrapped, untouched, and there it will sit, untouched forever. She insists, “We have to let them suffer, knowing that I don’t care enough to open it.” Holland Galloway (‘24), who was tentatively listening to my interview with Ferrell, simply suggested that Ferrell should purchase an MP3 player. Ferrell was thoroughly pleased with the idea.

Now the last principle might easily be the most controversial, something few teenagers in the 21st century can identify with. Ferrell has no social media. This includes TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and even Pinterest. How could one live without Pinterest? The only apps she does use are calling and texting, Photos, WhatsApp, Schoology, and Gmail; but under no circumstances will she use PowerSchool. After Ferrell listed off the apps, Galloway chimed in, “How do you even organize your life?”

That is not a crazy question. Ferrell’s friend Alice Oakey (‘24) says, “I don’t really care that Giles doesn’t have social media. I want her to get instagram before she leaves for college so I can see what she’s up to. Sometimes I wish she would answer my texts with a little more speed. I have her contact ‘favorited’ because I call her so much because she doesn’t respond to texts.” Oakey also mentioned that she sometimes has to just show up at Ferrell’s house because she fails to answer her texts. Abby Craig (‘24) said, “I think it’s a refreshing take on technology. I need someone not all caught up in the social media world.” Craig loves Ferrell’s realness. 

Ferrell responded, “I mean, I text sometimes.” I would like to emphasize how very infrequent “sometimes” is. The morning of our interview, Ferrell texted me, first, inquiring where we would be meeting and the time. I was baffled. I could not believe that a) she was on her phone, and b) she had texted me, first. Ferrell once lost her phone for a week but did not even realize it because of how infrequently she uses it. She does bring it to school when she knows its whereabouts, as it has her license and debit card in it. 

There are two main reasons why Ferrell does not use social media. She explained, “I think [scrolling] is very passive. You’re sitting there, receiving what the world is giving you, and when you finish, you’re not going to walk away and say, ‘I’m so inspired!’” She continued, “I have a personality that would get trapped in those things, and I think I would waste a lot of my life, when I could be going out in the world and making a difference.” Ferrell is a necessary asset on the Collegiate distance team, works tirelessly on SCA, and is an up-and-coming artist. She spends her time meaningfully, but she does not judge others who prefer to spend time on social media. The second reason Ferrell does not have social media is because its absence “opens up the space in” and has “simplified my life.”

Ferrell is not alone. According to Sirin Kale in her 2018 Guardian article, “Logged Off: Meet The Teens Who Refuse To Use Social Media,” the number of adolescents that will be quitting social media will increase in the coming years. One 18-year-old explained that social media is, “‘A competition for who can appear the happiest.'” They describe how social media has led teenagers to do dishonest acts, as well as create a facade. Ferrell thinks that society would benefit if social media had never been invented and if we did not have cell phones altogether. Abolishing social media and taking down corporate America aside, each quirk, principle, or standard that we hold ourselves to is what sets us apart from one another. Ferrell does not intend on making any in-app purchases anytime soon and is looking forward to the last day of Senior year, when she will be buying her one and only treat from the café.