The End Depends Upon the Beginning

Our first 4th generation Andover student, Chris Swihart grew

Upon his birth, his father received a note in the diplomatic

Chris skipped the 8th grade going to a boarding school in Salzburg for a year.

Like many of us, Chris knows that he finally found his people when he set foot on campus. His closest pals to this day are his PA people. His story of ex-pat culture shock, his being a year younger than most of our class, and his feeling a little bit behind at all times didn't seem to hold him back.

Willie Tate came to Andover from Jackson, Mississippi, by way of stops in Ohio, Kentucky, and Massachusetts itself.  An aunt and uncle actually lived in the town of Andover and were pals with Mrs. Skip Eccles, in whose dorm Willie would live Lower year.   Willie’s life changed immensely having been taught, mentored, coached, and shepherded by some of the greats of our time on campus Leon Modeste, Lou Bernieri, Bobby Edwards, Cathy Royal, William Thomas, Thylias Moss, and the incomparable Jay Rogers.  Willie took full advantage of PA: playing football, acting in plays, singing in the Cantata and Gospel Choirs.  To paraphrase Willie,  Andover clears the path for whatever we need to do.  The leitmotifs of this podcast are all here: pivots, resilience, opportunity, the devotion of our class to each other all come through.  Willie hopes to C Ya all soon.

A four-year Senior from Andover, Robin Hessman started her time at PA a day student, but, let’s face it, most of us thought she was a boarder all four years. Robin is now an award-winning documentary filmmaker, a producer, and an Oscar voter.  As with so many of us, her time at PA exposed her to people, places, ideas that transformed her world.  A self-proclaimed theater kid, Robin quoted Kevin Heelan who advised that at Andover, “You can do anything you want.” That same spirit continues with her today in taking risks, starting a new company in her fifties, and not being afraid to fail, a theme in our lives. Robin noted that we all had a sense of agency and determination early on in our lives which may have led to her producing Sesame Street in Moscow at the ripe old age of 22. Like many of us, she’s still trying to figure it all out.

Tom Seeley is a South Port, Connecticut native, a third generation Andover graduate and the younger sibling of two more graduates.

Andover furnished his house on literal and figurative levels. A four year senior, Tom came to PA from Eaglebrook and repeated the ninth grade. His life would have been incomplete had he not attended.

A sink or swim place with the survival swim being a metaphor for our time there, Tom eventually swam after a lost and messy Lower year.

Sober since 17, Tom gives credit where it was, and is, due to Henry Wilmer, Craig Thorn, Cilla Bonney-Smith, and Pam Brown for shepherding him through his sobriety journey.

Tom quoted Pam Brown beautifully, "You can only understand things looking backwards."

Our Class Secretary since forever, please remember to send him news for Class Notes!

One of our ex-pat classmates, Phil was born and reared in Manhattan and came to Andover after his Catholic school ended in the eighth grade, with a couple of family connections.

As for many of us, it is clearly where he wanted to go.

Except for his Chinese exchange trip with Melanie Lynch and Atticus Lish, Phil spent all of his time at PA in Will Hall. That one trip to China changed his life. So did have something at school that was his own through his love of Chinese, since there was so much talent on campus.

Phil says that there will never be a question if he's coming back to our reunions.

A native of Chile, Ollie Strand grew up in Los Angeles after fleeing the political upheaval in his native land with a stop in Alaska along the way.

Recruited by Andover at his middle school, Ollie arrived in the fall of 1986, originally in the Class of '89, and moved into Foxcroft South.

Honest to a fault, Ollie describes a year of hazing, bullying, and abuse at the hands of his dorm-mates, yet, he survived and returned the next year.

Reclassifying into the Class of '90, Ollie took time away from Andover his first go-round of Senior year, coming back to our class in the fall of 1989.

Finding his way took some time, but he found his people, affectionately calling them The Island of Misfit Toys.

From a fellow classmate’s unexpected generosity, to a mis-captioned photo the day of President Bush’s visit back to campus, to landing in sea planes on the East River in New York, Ollie’s is a tale of those two great Andover qualities: curiosity and confidence.

Our first faculty member, Brooklyn native Leon Modeste, Coach Mo, joined PA when our class did in 1986.

Lou Bernieri's best pal since high school, Coach Mo filled the vacant football coach position at Lou's encouragement and after interviewing with Paul Kalkstein, a bed-ridden Kelly Wise, and a Bruce Springsteen-loving Mike Kuta.

Thrust into Bartlett, ill-prepared and learning as he went, Mo developed an immediate kinship with our class. He described that kinship as being easy since he taught almost all of us PE our junior or lower years.

Our class took him in, he said. He trained us as much as we trained him.

Coach Mo tells a poignant tell of sobriety, support, community, grit, resilience, and stick-to-it-ness.

As Coach says, "The try is all that matters." Oh, there's a great anecdote about someone from ten deep and the Abbott Bizarre dunk tank.

The end depends upon the beginning. As we reach the end of this podcast series, we brought executive producers Meredith Carter and Hamlin O'Kelly (you know him) to reflect on just what this podcast has meant to all of us.

A native of Lexington, MA, Jared is the grandson of a member of the class of '29 and nephew of a member of the class of '63.

Arriving as a New Lower, Jared recalls his interview with Mrs. Richards who advised early on that the place would be academically challenging.

Moving into Will Hall in the fall of 1987 with The Beatles playing in the background, Jared took up the challenges of PA.

For him and for many of us, the place is all about the friendships. "That's Andover" he states.

Instilling a general confidence and the power to be bold, Jared adores the people in our class and will never miss a reunion.

From a small town in Nebraska smaller than the PA student body, Jen Amis followed her siblings to Andover.

On the recommendation of Doc Minne to her father, the Amis siblings applied and matriculated. Jen describes the importance of the mission to educate youth from every quarter exposing her teenaged, small-town Midwestern self to an entire world.

From getting a 2 in Lower French during the fall to spending her Upper year in France with School Year Abroad, Jen had her language and cultural horizons deeply broadened at PA.

She relishes learning to this day. Since her SYA, she has been a extensive traveler.

Looking back, Jen acknowledged that most of us had more responsibility at 13, 14, and 15 than most college freshmen: we rose to challenges at a young age, including learning how to do our own laundry.

To quote Jen, “We are a family.”