The End Depends Upon the Beginning

A Brooklyn native, Jake Barton arrived at Andover with a New York attitude and sardonic sense of humor. Coming from Brooklyn’s largest public high school to PA, Andover opened up a world where people knew his name and wanted to see him succeed. Calling Mr. Cobb a necromancer in our discussion has a much deeper meaning thirty five years later. Having recently sold his design firm, Jake is at a cros...

An artist from Upstate New York living in California, Michael Deyermond almost died in Rome a few years ago and attributes his class connections to helping pull him through. From T.S. Eliot inspired tears on the squash court to keeping wide eyed wonderment and a full syllabus of books at all times, Michael echoes what many of our classmates say that we’re the most incredible community he’s ever be...

A native of Baltimore, Sherita Gaskins is a doctor, coach, and health counselor whose first connection with boarding school was watching The Facts of Life. From the beginning, Andover was where she wanted to be. As Sherita says, Andover had her heart. In a theme that will come through in this podcast, like many of our classmates, she realizes she has a place at any table. As she said, we don’t hea...

A native of South Korea, Joe Bae moved to the US with his family in 1974. Joe grew up on Long Island and came to Andover via librarian’s recommendation. Joe Bae discusses Andover lessons of resiliency, adaptability, and being able to fit in anywhere, even as a fish out of water. Joe admits that he probably would not have been willing to establish his business’s Asian headquarters in Hong Kong with...

Half German, half American, Anna Ivey lived in Germany as a young child then moved to Boston in middle school. Anna and I were in Stimson together during our Lower year. With her parents moving back to Germany, they gave her the option to stay in the US, going to boarding school. The freedom to use the bathroom pushed her over the edge in favor of PA. Later a law school dean and educator and consu...

Not our first podcast rodeo, it’s easy for me to talk to Beaufort, South Carolina, native Hamlin O’Kelley. Like most of us, Hamlin knew he needed to go to school at Andover the moment he set foot on campus. There’s a shrewdness he describes with our classmates. Due to our exposures, and surviving the place, we can be dropped off anywhere in the world and be just fine. He confirms that Andover was...