pearson family
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basically a grown-up who was there to help me navigate not only the academic world of CHA but the social stuff too, meant the world to me. Anytime I had either a social or academic problem, I could go to her to discuss anything and everything. It was a great feeling and I am just remembering that the advisor system embodied the supportive atmosphere of CHA at the time.
and 70s. Our family was big enough that there wasn’t that much room for lots and lots of uncles and aunts and cousins at the table for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but we did have some uncles that we saw on a regular basis. My uncle Stanley Pearson who was a very very good athlete both at CHA and Princeton was a big part of my life when I was a kid. Do you have any special sayings or expressions? Funny story/ stories about your time at CHA?
What do you feel have been the important successes in your life? Figuring out academics and how to learn at CHA was huge for me. That allowed my academic career to really blossom. Then, going to Princeton and basically hanging in there with some of the smartest kids I’ve ever met was challenging and seriously educational. But the decision to enter the world of medicine after having traded stocks on Wall Street for six months was nothing less than a lightning strike. I was dissatisfied with the financial world and having never even considered medicine before that moment, I was totally convinced that I was going to become a doctor. I knew it in my bones. From that point forward, it was a laborious task to go back and take the right classes, do the right research, take the MCAT, apply to medical school, and get in. After 11 more years of education and training, I started my job at Bryn Mawr Hospital as a colorectal surgeon and have never looked back. How did your family celebrate holidays (e.g., Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Easter, Memorial Day)? Did lots of relatives get together? What traditions did you have year after year? We were a pretty basic white-bread suburban family and therefore our holiday traditions were fairly typical for the 60s
It really isn’t one set of expressions per se. But there is a lifelong and very close relationship with the Nalle family: Ned, Hod, Ellen, Zandy, and Lucy. Basically all of the Pearson boys grew up being friends with one or another of the Nalle kids. And in those long years of friendships we developed 6 some pretty hilarious and wacky humorous routines and nicknames and interactions that basically cannot be described to the outside world. It’s like we had this weird world to ourselves. But it was really funny stuff and that humor carries over into our adult lives. We’re all still friends.
CAPTIONS: 1. Top row, second from left: Philip’s father’s first cousin Corning Pearson ’30, after whom the school’s baseball diamond and the Corning Pearson ’30 Service Award are named. 2. The five Pearson boys. Philip is the baby. 3. Stephen Pearson ’37, Philip’s father. 4. Marjorie Newbold Pearson ’45 with current SCH students, granddaughters Lucy ’22 (left) and Maggie ’20. 5. The extended SCH Pearson family gathered for the rededication of the Pearson Baseball Diamond following the renovation of the athletic fields. 6. Josh, Alex, and Philip with a friend in Maine dancing around—could that be the Blue Devil?
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