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Alumni
Review #3, Class of 2002 |
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| College
Enrolled |
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Johns Hopkins University |
| Home
Town, State (Country) |
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New York City,NY |
| Years
Attended Boarding School |
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2 |
| Activities
During Boarding School |
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Yearbook Editor (The Pocumtuck)
-Youngest Editor
Tour Guide at Deerfield Academy
-Requested to tour the Head of Hillel for Yale
Radio Show Host (WGAJ 91.7 FM)
Writer for The Scroll newspaper- Movie Reviews
Food Committee at the Deerfield Dining Hall
Co-President and Founder of The New York Club
Varsity Football, JV Lacrosse , JV Hockey
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| 1.) What was the best thing that happened to you in boarding school? |
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| I will enclose my college application which mentions one great achievement.
I sat quietly in the Exeter locker room, listening to the cries of my friend Jay drown out my coach’s speech. I watched him lie on the stretcher with tears smearing his face paint as the trainers tried to immobilize his leg. He could barely whisper the words, “Zippy, get number 44 for me.” All I could do was nod.
We took the field and played our hearts out under the lights, but the game ended with our fullback in the endzone, a flag on the play against Deerfield, and ten other players injured. We lost that game and the injuries destroyed the rest of the season, leaving the team with a record of 3-5. The intensity that I had during that game ate away at me on the bench. I was second-string behind the two starting tackles, my captain and a postgraduate, and never had the opportunity to play and avenge my friend’s injury. I promised myself after that game that I would not sit on the bench again. My days on the pine were over.
Eight months later, the summer before my senior year, I made training and my internship at Bloomberg my main priorities. I spent long hours in the gym, training with my trainer and friends. I was open to all ideas. For a few weeks, I used the Williams College Summer Crew Program to improve my endurance and mental toughness. After the Williams Program, I religiously followed my Deerfield football coach’s workout program. I had the support of my family and coaches throughout my transformation. My goal was to be the strongest and best offensive tackle in the league.
I returned to school in the fall with an extra twenty pounds. I earned the starting position of right offensive tackle and knew that I had yet to prove that I deserved the position. I made sure that I never missed a block in any of the four games prior to the Exeter rematch. At the start of the season, we were labeled a passing team; after the opening game, that label had changed to a running offense. My blocking and leadership on the line were key to the changing of that label.
During parents’ weekend in October under the changing foliage of the hills of Deerfield, we faced off in the rematch against Exeter. The memory of the previous year and Jay’s torn ACL lingered in the back of my mind, but now I was no longer on the bench. At halftime, we were leading nine to six. During halftime, the team gathered at the bank of the river under the shelter of trees. The tight end wanted the quarterback to stop running the plays up the 44 and 46 holes every other play because the defense was likely to pick up on the repetition. The quarterback responded, “I just go up to the line and call the holes that I know will be open and that hole is always open.” The quarterback was pointing to me. At that moment, I knew that my hard work had paid off. The game ended with a 16 to 6 Deerfield victory. It was the best game that I had ever played.
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| 2.) What would you have done differently during your boarding school experience? |
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| Nothing. I had a great experience. |
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| 3.) What would you never want to change about your school? |
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| The traditions and the people. I hope someday my children can go here and enjoy the same teachers that taught me everything. |
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| 4.) What things could be improved about your school? |
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| Get rid of the deans. They are not nice and they don’t like their jobs. |
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| 5.) Do you have any final words of wisdom for visiting or incoming students
to your school? |
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| Visit the school and meet the kids even if your tour guide is bad or not like you. That is not the school. My tour guide was the biggest dork I have ever met and I was not going to apply. I applied to make my mom happy and when I went to my second visit I was not open-minded at first though I told my mom that I loved it. |
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| 1.)
What did you like best about your school’s academics? |
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| The teachers were amazing and they became some of my good friends whom I keep in touch with to this day. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about the academics in your school? |
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| The workload could be heavy sometimes and the teachers did not always recognize no-homework nights for special events. |
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What did you like best about your school’s athletics? |
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| It was the best experience of my life. I love my team and my coaches. I bled green and white everyday. As an alumni I have already planned to go watch my old team play two games this season. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about the athletics in your school? |
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| I wish we did not recruit so heavily in hockey because I would have been able to play varsity at most other schools. |
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What did you like best about your school’s art program? |
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| You could participate even if you draw like I do. One term was required which I did not want to do but now I am glad that I did it. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about your school’s art program? |
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| I was not really involved. |
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| 1.)
What did you like most about the extracurricular activities offered
at your school? |
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| They were easy to join. My freshman year I never thought I would hold some of the leadership roles that I obtained. They taught me that leadership is gained through respect rather than an inherited right of passage. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about the extracurricular activities offered
at your school? |
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| Some could be very time-consuming. The yearbook took hours of my time each week. |
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What was the best thing about dorm life in your school? |
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| I grew close with my friends and have stayed that way. |
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What did you like least about dorm life? |
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| The deans always bothering us. |
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What was the best thing about your dining arrangements? |
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| We had amazing food. We had all you can eat lobster twice a year and each week we had a big Sunday dinner. We would have duck, turkey, chicken to carve, lamb. There was always an option for everyone and the pasta bar is not just pasta and tomato sauce it is two table-lengths long full of different Italian cuisines. They are not frugal with their money because they don’t really have a small budget. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about your dining arrangements? |
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| There are a lot of things that the students requested that the deans rejected without reason. |
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| 1.) How welcome did you feel by the other students when you first
arrived at the school? |
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| Everyone was so helpful and the adjustment was perfect. A kid who went to my rival school at home was the first kid I met. I acted a little weird around him because there was a lot of tension between our schools. He made me feel comfortable and actually took me out to dinner my first night and he was just a sophomor--e not a proctor. |
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| 2.)
Describe the level of diversity and integration of students in your
school: |
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| We were very diverse. I am white but I had so much fun at the Black Student Coalition functions and meetings. There were never any problems with race or creed. I almost went to Korea to stay with my neighbor for the World Cup Game. |
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| 3.)
Describe typical fun activities you did on a weekend: |
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| Sports or watch movies. Play Frisbee on the quad or go swimming in the river. Or play golf on the lower level. |
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| 4.)
What was the town like? |
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| Yes and the town was amazing and the surrounding towns were good but not great. We had a BJ Wholesale Club and some amazing restaurants cheap enough for students and some nice ones for our families. |
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| 7:30 AM | Wake up | | 8:00 AM | AP stats class | | 9:00 AM | Spanish 4/ Community service | | 10:00 AM | Creative writing AP Eng | | 10:45 AM | Free period- mostly slept or ate breakfast at greer | | 12:00 AM | Lunch food committee meeting | | 1:15 PM | Free period- homework | | 2:15 PM | Modern Times History | | 3:15 PM | AP Physics | | 4:15 PM | Football practice | | 7:00 PM | Dinner | | 8:00 PM | Study hall (spent either in library or music hall) | | 10:00 PM | Dorm closing (time spent studying or socializing in dorm) | | 12:00 PM | More studying | | 2:00 AM | Bedtime | |
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| 9:00 AM | Wakeup and breakfast | | 10:00 AM | Away football game | | 7:00 PM | Dance party at student center | | 10:00 PM | Socialize in dorm | |
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