Hi! I’m Andrew, a Senior from Los Angeles, California. I found out about Thacher through an alumnus from my middle school.
What I like best about living and studying at Thacher: My favorite part about living at Thacher is dorm life. As the only child in my family, getting to live with others my age is great. From deciphering English passages with my friends to chilling at late night munch-outs with my prefect group, I get to experience a camaraderie that I have longed for since my early childhood. During vacations, I always look forward to coming back to my room at Thacher, which I usually think of as my home.
My favorite class at the moment is AP Physics because Mr. Harris, my teacher, is wonderful and because I have always had an interest in Physics. In a class with only five other classmates and an expert (and funny!) teacher, there is little more that I can ask for in a class.
People at Thacher—peers, schoolmates, faculty, staff, others—who have influence me positively and how:
Honestly, everyone at Thacher has influenced me positively. But one person that stands out in my mind is Ms. McMahan, my freshman year advisor and the nurse in charge of the Health Center. Ms. McMahan really helped me to adjust to life at Thacher, and counseled me throughout my freshman year as if she were one of my parents.
Advice for someone thinking about going away to school or specifically coming to Thacher:
I seriously advise that you consider this possibility for your future. It will change your life (for the better) in many ways. Going away to school has been an amazing and transformative experience for me, and I am positive that such a venture on your part would help you too. As for Thacher, I picked this school because of a combination of the amazing community, campus, and academic life that I knew I would have here.
Blog Posts by Andrew ’12:
Dodgeball is a tradition at Thacher. By far the most common inter-dormitory competition, Dodgeball is a great way for dorms to interact and bond while competing for highly sought after bragging rights. Tonight, my dorm, Upper School (junior boys) faced Los Padres (sophomore boys). After three great matches it was unofficially decided that LP won (3-0). The awesome thing was that I got to be the last person standing on my team in one of the games, surviving dozens of throws from the sophomores for about five minutes, using tactics like dropping to the ground as far from the dividing line as possible as balls whizzed over me, running across the baseline of the far end of the gym, or crouching down so as to minimize the surface area exposed to the projectiles. In the end, I caught three throws from the enemy before getting pelted myself. While the strategy might not have been all that honorable, the fact that about 18 guys failed to nail me over the course of that time definitely warrants a personal victory!
Several times each month, Thacher brings in speakers and scholars who give talks in the evenings. Tonight, Chris McDougall will be speaking about his book, Born To Run, and I am ridiculously excited about his coming. I have been reading his book, which I’ve actually borrowed from the Thacher Library, and am expecting a lot having already engrossed myself in his adventures in running.
Yep. It was amazing! Not only was this guy pretty knowledgeable about running, but he was also remarkably entertaining and funny! There were moments when the entire auditorium was filled with laughter. I, as a runner, found myself smiling for nearly the entire time. Born to Run. He actually convinced me that we as the human species are born to run. Check it out. He even gave me several tips on healing my tendonitis and fixing my foot strike. I’d say he has been one of my favorite speakers that I have seen in my two-and-more-than-a-half years at Thacher.
I am on a bus. It is 9:10 on a quiet Friday night in February. Tonight, among fifty other faculty and students, I am on my way to Mammoth Lakes to go skiing at Mammoth Mountain. I have been looking forward to this weekend for a while. This is the first time I have been on a weekend ski trip in my time at Thacher, and I am excited to enjoy the adventure with some of my friends, whom I have never skied with before. The plan is that we will ski all day tomorrow and in the morning on Sunday, after which we will take the six-hour bus ride back to campus in time for study hall. Although this weekend probably won’t turn out to be nearly as relaxing, comfortable or productive as weekends spent on campus, I am excited to enjoy the fun, action-packed, once-in-a-year experience.
Every Monday evening this trimester, I serve as a Head Waiter at formal dinner. Strictly a job for Juniors, Head Waiting requires that those in the job either give announcements or take attendance at formal dinners. There are ten Head Waiters, two for each of the four weekly formal dinners, and two on reserve. I usually look forward to the job, as it’s a fun way to spend forty minutes of my week.
This trimester I have mostly given announcements, which means that at the beginning of formal dinner, teachers and students tell me what announcements they’d like made, which I then deliver to students and faculty at the twenty-five tables. Announcements can range from no announcements (which turns out to be the most awkward announcement—“Good Evening, Mr So-and-so….I have no announcements.”) to this year’s record of seven. It is interesting because this year I have given seven announcements at two dinners, while no other head waiters has even reached five. I guess Mondays are just especially busy. Both of those nights, I found myself quite hoarse part-way through the marathon and failed to actually get to all of the tables because there were so many. In fact, since I was speaking so quickly (and possibly comically), I received applause several times! It’s not always the most glorious work, but I definitely enjoy the experience.
