Are you ready to handle the academics? Are you ready to become a horse person? Are you able to be an honorable student? These questions are the typical ones in an application to Thacher, but the un-asked question really is: Are you ready to be part of the biggest family ever?

Thacher is, in all honesty, just like one jumbo family. There are of course the ‘official’ members of the family such as your faculty advisor and your senior prefect. That advisor, who similar to a parent, checks up on you, takes you out to dinners, and checks up on your academics. And then there’s that always-there-to-greet-you-with-a-smile senior prefect. I personally don’t have any older siblings but my prefects have pretty much filled the position. My prefect is always at check-in waiting for me with a hug, brownies, ice cream, or that ever-valuable piece of advice from someone who has done it all before.

After the ‘official’ members of the jumbo family comes the rest. And let me tell you, the list could go on forever! Thacher may have 150+ horses, but the faculty dogs probably come pretty close to that number. The pergola, putting green, or upper field is always scattered with friendly dogs and their faculty owners in tow. Whether it’s the giant sweetheart Gus or the little howling dog Pistol, there is never a family pet far off. Then there are the younger siblings, and no, this is not the freshman! About 95% of the faculty families live on campus, which inevitably means there are faculty children everywhere! I often find myself playing a game of mini soccer on the Pergola with Hiram, Darragh, Evan, Hayden, Cora, and Jack. Either that or making faces across the dining hall at little Stella or Rorie just to try to get them to smile at me. And it’s not exactly rare that I’ll spend formal dinner discussing characters from the movie Cars with the Hooper boys.

So while you have your watchful faculty parents, your essential older sibling prefect, your family pets, your younger siblings, the most important part of the family might be the siblings that fall into your age group, obviously being your peers. My friends might just be the biggest and best piece of the family puzzle. Those girls that live in my dorm might as well be my sisters since we constantly are making memories, sharing everything (from music to dresses), and supporting each other every step of the way. It could be Tabitha letting me borrow her sweater, Katherine sending me the newest Taylor Swift album, Eva helping me with my math homework, or Sarah sharing her constant supply of grapes. This family most likely totals to well over 250 people, and in a lot of ways, it’s pretty crazy to think that you can find a helping hand everywhere you look. And the best part of the family: we live at the coolest house ever! But that’s a story for another day…