I grew up hearing about my dad’s boarding school exploits on a regular basis. It used to be a family joke that he’d “send us to boarding school” if we did wrong. Over the years, though, he began to talk more seriously about the boarding school experience that he had so enjoyed, and all of a sudden, when I was in middle school, my older sister was applying to Thacher. My dad went to Dunn, and definitely had set ideas about the classic Condor League schools and their merits. Under his guidance, my sister applied to Thacher, and only Thacher. Although she was skeptical to say the least about leaving home and riding horses, by the first week of her freshman year she was hooked.

And so was I – as a seventh grader, I had already fallen in love with Thacher. It’s strange for me to recall those first few visits to Thacher – dropping my sister off, Family Weekend in October – although I was definitely the scared younger sibling, I loved the campus and the feel of the school from the very beginning. I was enthralled with all aspects of Thacher – the horse and outdoor programs, the dorms, classes, clubs, and sports. I grilled my sister when she came home for vacations, trying to gain a complete understanding of all the inner workings of the school.

Nervous as a I was, I couldn’t have been more ready to become a freshman at Thacher for myself. Although my journey to Thacher stands in stark contrast with my sister’s initial doubts, our experiences, freshman year and on, were both nothing but positive. My admittedly very high expectations were all fulfilled, and often surpassed. In hindsight, what set Thacher apart from other schools and what has made my experience unforgettable has been Thacher’s community. The respect students have for the Honor Code and the incredibly close relationships students develop among themselves and with the faculty are what makes the Thacher community a family in many ways, and are what would guide my decision if I were to do it all over again.