Meet Naomi Billups '25

If there is one person who embodies the get-curious and get-discovering mindset of a Pingry student, it’s Naomi Billups ’25. Try to get comfortable thinking you know her and… surprise! She mentions another enthralling interest of hers. There is an urge in high school to try to pigeonhole people to their interests, their hairstyles, the sports they play. Yet that doesn’t happen at Pingry. It can’t. And Naomi Billups perfectly encapsulates why.

Her favorite subject is Chemistry, and she’d love to talk to you about it, but already her brilliant mind has moved on to her love of sports. She loves to play squash and, oh, by the way, just a few others. “I played gymnastics, lacrosse, tennis, softball, swimming—”pauses for breath—“golf, track. Oh! Cheer as well.”

Oh. Of course.

Starting in the Lower School, students try out all kinds of different sports. “It’s like different units, so you try cross country, golf, bowling—you try everything. And I liked a lot of them. But then in Middle School, you have a chance to narrow it down,” she says. “And then in high school, I found what I really like.”

And, since Naomi defies expectations, she adds simply, “I just want to try everything,” before adding, almost as an afterthought, “Oh, I like to go to car races. Formula One racing? That’s cool.” 

Oh. Of course.

When it comes to clubs, she enjoys Anatomy Club, STEM for Girls, and Robotics. It is as if Naomi looked around at the buffet of opportunities at Pingry and decided to try each one. Tempting as it may be, you can’t quite pinpoint her. It’s best to expect the unexpected.

Naomi embodies a famous quote from Robert Kennedy on youth—“not a time of life but a state of mind”. She finds purpose in many pursuits. After all, she knows our only limits are the ones we place on ourselves.

“Also,” she adds, almost absentmindedly, which at this point is a signal she is going to say something interesting, “I like to skateboard a lot.”

Oh! But of course.