If you are walking on campus throughout the day, it is likely that the door will be held open for you by Robert Simmons, an MSMS senior. A professional gentleman and friend to everyone, Simmons routinely smiles and waves to every student and faculty member.

Born in Jackson, Simmons came to MSMS after attending Ridgeland High School. His favorite part about being here at MSMS is the diverse community. “Lots of whacky things can happen when you gather a lot of intelligent teens in a small area,” he said.

You may have noticed when Simmons holds a door open for you that he sometimes wears a kilt; he bought his first kilt during the 2014 Celtic Fest, a few weeks into junior year. Another outfit of his, loved by the students, is his frog costume, which he bought on Amazon after browsing frog merchandise.

“I have two main reasons for holding the door. First, I enjoy seeing people smile. Second, I’m kind of shy and socially awkward, so I find it to be a good way to become familiar with people,” said Simmons.

“For people having a bad day, I would suggest finding something about your day to laugh about and focusing on that,” said Simmons. “There is humor in everything, sometimes it just takes a bit more digging to find. In my experience, confidence is one of the hardest things to maintain. Your confidence will always have good and bad days, but the important thing is to always take pride in who you are and what you’ve done.”

Simmons regularly listens to old jazz and swing music, and he is thoroughly interested in chemistry, especially after taking AP Chemistry.