The End Depends Upon the Beginning

Our first 4th generation Andover student, Chris Swihart grew up a 3rd culture expat kid of foreign service parents who decided upon boarding school when his 8th grade class was going to consist of only 1 student, being Chris, in Zagreb. Upon his birth, his father received a note in the diplomatic pouch welcoming him to the Class of 1991. Chris skipped the 8th grade going to a boarding school in Sa...

Willie Tate came to Andover from Jackson, Mississippi, by way of stops in Ohio, Kentucky, and Massachusetts itself.  An aunt and uncle actually lived in the town of Andover and were pals with Mrs. Skip Eccles, in whose dorm Willie would live Lower year.   Willie’s life changed immensely having been taught, mentored, coached, and shepherded by some of the greats of our time on campus Leon Modeste,...

A four-year Senior from Andover, Robin Hessman started her time at PA a day student, but, let’s face it, most of us thought she was a boarder all four years. Robin is now an award-winning documentary filmmaker, a producer, and an Oscar voter.  As with so many of us, her time at PA exposed her to people, places, ideas that transformed her world.  A self-proclaimed theater kid, Robin quoted Kevin He...

Tom Seeley is a South Port, Connecticut native, a third generation Andover graduate and the younger sibling of two more graduates. Andover furnished his house on literal and figurative levels. A four year senior, Tom came to PA from Eaglebrook and repeated the ninth grade. His life would have been incomplete had he not attended. A sink or swim place with the survival swim being a metaphor for our...

One of our ex-pat classmates, Phil was born and reared in Manhattan and came to Andover after his Catholic school ended in the eighth grade, with a couple of family connections. As for many of us, it is clearly where he wanted to go. Except for his Chinese exchange trip with Melanie Lynch and Atticus Lish, Phil spent all of his time at PA in Will Hall. That one trip to China changed his life. So d...

Our first faculty member, Brooklyn native Leon Modeste, Coach Mo, joined PA when our class did in 1986. Lou Bernieri's best pal since high school, Coach Mo filled the vacant football coach position at Lou's encouragement and after interviewing with Paul Kalkstein, a bed-ridden Kelly Wise, and a Bruce Springsteen-loving Mike Kuta. Thrust into Bartlett, ill-prepared and learning as he went, Mo devel...

A native of Chile, Ollie Strand grew up in Los Angeles after fleeing the political upheaval in his native land with a stop in Alaska along the way. Recruited by Andover at his middle school, Ollie arrived in the fall of 1986, originally in the Class of '89, and moved into Foxcroft South. Honest to a fault, Ollie describes a year of hazing, bullying, and abuse at the hands of his dorm-mates, yet, h...

The end depends upon the beginning. As we reach the end of this podcast series, we brought executive producers Meredith Carter and Hamlin O'Kelly (you know him) to reflect on just what this podcast has meant to all of us.

A native of Lexington, MA, Jared is the grandson of a member of the class of '29 and nephew of a member of the class of '63. Arriving as a New Lower, Jared recalls his interview with Mrs. Richards who advised early on that the place would be academically challenging. Moving into Will Hall in the fall of 1987 with The Beatles playing in the background, Jared took up the challenges of PA. For him an...

From a small town in Nebraska smaller than the PA student body, Jen Amis followed her siblings to Andover. On the recommendation of Doc Minne to her father, the Amis siblings applied and matriculated. Jen describes the importance of the mission to educate youth from every quarter exposing her teenaged, small-town Midwestern self to an entire world. From getting a 2 in Lower French during the fall...

Our only Day Student panelist, Mike Zetlan was a day student from Andover who didn’t act like a day student. He immersed himself into everything on campus during his time at PA, because, after all, “You have to put in some effort.” As many of us have stated, PA was the place where people saw Mike for who he was and got him for who he was. A place where being smart and working hard were admired, it...

Hailing from a small, rural community in Wester Connecticut, Kiersten Todt gave her honest, unvarnished assessment that she was not psyched to be coming to Andover as a junior. Living in Abbey House in Abbott during her junior year, she didn’t love the place from the get go. It was her PE class that first fall with Coach Leon Modeste surviving the ropes course, the swimming requirement, and the ph...

Growing up just outside of the far boundaries for day students, Dan Gilbert came to Andover from Nashua, New Hampshire. Dan’s father spent a PG year at Andover but rarely talked about it. A swimmer from a young age, Dan attended swim meets a school in Exeter, but he knew that Andover was the right place to be. Coming in as a new Lower, Dan swam all three years at PA. Voted in as swim team Captain...

Coming to PA as a new Lower, Liz Stites arrived from southeastern Massachusetts into Johnson in West Quad South. A bit of a culture shock, Liz tells the story of a classmate saying she was going to the City thinking it was Boston and not hopping on the shuttle to New York. Ambivalent about her time there, Liz says she has repressed a lot of her memories about the place. An interesting conversation...

Having attended four schools in three years, Alex Whittemore applied to Andover while living in Roanoke, Virginia. Placed into Hall House in Abbot with only five other juniors, Alex did not have the typical Rockwell start to PA. As several other of our classmates have said, Alex gave credit to Tommy Lyons with incredible impact on his education, begin a force of nature on four legs. Like many of u...

Carl Smit grew up in Massachusetts. Not only a graduate of Andover but also the Naval Academy, Carl admits that he did not have a normal education, for which he is grateful. A four year senior who started out in Rockwell, Carl Smith returned there as a Proctor our Senior Year, even though most of us think he was in Andover Cottage. A retired Navy Seal, Carl led missions all over the world, includi...

A New Jersey girl whose parents divorced during her time at PA, Cristina Olivetti Spencer’s roots in Andover run deep. Her grandmother and her great aunts were Abbott Alumnae. Cristina grew up spending Thanksgivings in Andover, so coming to PA was almost preordained. As with many of us, Cristina attributes Tommy T. Lyons as adding greatly to her education based on her time in his History 30 and hi...

A Manhattanite through-and-through, Wanda Mann arrived in Nathan Hale as a new junior. A crush on an Andover alumnus who spoke at weekend gifted and talented enrichment program titled Andover scales in Wanda’s favor. Even this New Yorker felt like an un-worldly 12-year-old when she arrived on campus who quickly realized that Andover made us all fend for ourselves, making all of us more resilient t...

A native of Dunkirk, New York, Chris Weber arrived as a junior having barely turned 13 years old. Given the last attic room in Will Hall, Chris remembers meeting people from all over the as the world opened up to him. Andover gave Chris that skill that’s now a running theme on this podcast: the ability to talk to anyone. As a teacher and educator, Chris described his complicated relationship with...

Massachusetts born and bred, John Berman grew up down the street from a rival boarding school where he sister was a day student. Like many of us, John regards Andover as his seminal educational experience, even more so than his time at Harvard or in the Hasty Pudding Club. Making lifelong friends from the moment he stepped out of his door his first day in Rockwell, John attributes Andover with his...

Hailing from the self-described mean streets of Washington, D.C., Andrew Lacovara arrived at PA as a new Upper. Moving into Alumni House in Abbot, Andrew had three summers where he could say, “I’m going to Andover” then “I go to Andover” then “I went to Andover” according to one of his senior year roommates. Perhaps living the Non Sibi motto more than anyone, I will let Andrew tell you of his late...

Zenzi Gadson grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Following in her brother’s footsteps, Zenzi knew she had to be at Andover the day her family dropped of her brother in Nathan Hale. Folks at home would ask “Boarding school? What did you do wrong?” and nothing could be father from the truth. As with so many of us Zenzi had to be at PA. Simply had to. Zenzi credits Thylias Moss, Bruse Smith, Kevi...

Steve Yung began life in Sao Paolo, Brazil, before moving to Hong Kong and then Andover. The son of Chinese immigrants, Steve’s family had aspirational educational goals for their son. Andover came into focus due to its name brand and reputation from other Hong Kong friends who would later become classmates. He arrived sight unseen at Andover. Like many of us, Steve wanted to go away to school. Ho...

The youngest of five children from Denver, Max was the fourth of his five siblings to attend PA. Arriving three months after his next oldest sibling graduated, Max had a connection to the school . Even so, he agreed that no one loves the place from the start in the place that made us truly independent, something this is gone with today’s interconnectivity with no more Sunday afternoon phone calls...

Hailing from Palm Beach, Florida, Katy followed in her sister’s footsteps coming to PA. I met Katy and our late dear classmate Cathy Jones the first day I set foot on campus in September of 1987. In the foreign service, Katy said she would not have chosen her career path without the immersive language experience of the Russian Department, especially under the tutelage of Vic Svec. As is common in...