Loomis chaffee senior paths

Senior Paths Purpose Lived Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

Your Journey Begins Here

E

ach spring, with graduation approaching, Loomis Chaffee seniors reflect on their journeys as students on the Island. The paths they forge here are as unique as the students themselves, but the common experience they share is a pursuit of the best self and the common good. Along the way their teachers, coaches, classmates, and friends celebrate their individuality, challenge their intellect, empower them to make a positive difference in their communities, and help them discover and embrace their passions.

That’s the difference.

That’s Loomis Chaffee.

Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

3

4

M

ichael Carter is a big thinker. A standout student known for his insights, the editor-in-chief of both the school newspaper and a student-written foreign affairs journal, an award-winning delegate to Model U.N. conferences, a keen student of Arabic, a respected leader among his peers, and an engaged community member who pursued his activities with purpose, Michael took a thoughtful approach to both his daily life and his overarching experience at Loomis Chaffee. For these and other attributes, Michael received the Ammidon Prize at Commencement, given to a young man of the graduating class who, in the judgment of the faculty, has been outstanding in his concern for others.

In-depth thought shows in all that Michael does, even in his picks of books, music, and travel destinations. His favorite book, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, is more than a science fiction story, he says: “It’s almost a philosophical take on science and ethics.” He enjoys music by singer-songwriter Lorde for its complexity despite her relatively young age, and for the way she “connects everyday experiences with bigger ideas,” he says. Fascinated by both the physical beauty and the culture of Iceland, Michael speaks with admiration about the Icelandic peoples’ “respect for the natural world,” their “progressive mindset,” and their strong work ethic.

He tethers his future plans to big ideas as well. Political science is the early favorite as a field of study at Stanford University.

At Loomis, Michael’s scholarship, hard work, commitment to leadership, and choice of extracurricular programs that held meaning for him earned the respect of his classmates, friends, teachers, and mentors. His advisor, longtime English faculty member Fred Seebeck,

Michael Carter Loomis Chaffee Class of 2015 Hometown: Mount Pleasant, SC College: Stanford University observes that Michael stood out “as one of the most indefatigable workers and most engaged true scholars I’ve seen in my career.”

Michael assumed leadership roles in many community-oriented activities at Loomis. In addition to his leadership of The Log and The World Bulletin, Michael was a prefect and resident assistant, served on the Disciplinary Committee, and was elected class president in his sophomore and junior years. He was active in Model U.N., the agriculture program, SPECTRUM, and campus sustainability efforts, and he exhibited his creativity as an actor, playwright, and director in several productions in the Norris Ely Orchard Theater.

“Michael is a terrific writer — one of the best I’ve ever encountered in my 18 years of teaching,” notes history teacher Rachel Engelke. “Lucid, creative, clever, … his papers were always among my favorites to read.” For The World Bulletin, meanwhile, Michael researched and wrote articles covering nuanced topics, including pieces about tensions in the European Union, the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprising, and the threat of ISIS. “Michael stepped up to the plate and helped readers unpack complicated issues in the Middle East,” says Rachel.

Loomis first attracted Michael’s interest at a Ten Schools admissions event near his home in Charleston, South Carolina, and he planned his visit to Loomis on his tour of New England boarding schools.

“I chose Loomis Chaffee because when I visited and talked to other students on campus, I sensed there was a great atmosphere here,” he says. “They didn’t hold back when they were speaking

Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

with me, and their confidence came through.”

When he arrived on campus as a freshman, the biggest challenge for Michael was the “level up” of course work from his previous schooling. “I got my first B ever,” he admits, “but it was not devastating — just a reality check.” He says he quickly developed a more committed work ethic and realized that doing so leads to a more rewarding experience.

Michael cites the Advanced Placement U.S. History course, taught by Eric LaForest, as a class that involved a lot of work to “really get into the material” in order to fully participate in class discussions. His efforts resulted in “an in-depth knowledge of U.S. history,” Michael says, and the class remains one of his most enjoyable and rewarding at Loomis.

Rachel’s instruction and encouragement in AP Government and Politics class and through his involvement with Model U.N. and The World Bulletin also helped him develop an enthusiasm for learning and cultivated his passion for history, international politics, world events, and journalism, he says. He credits all his teachers for holding him to high standards in the quality of his work, though clearly he has a high bar set for himself as well.

Michael collected many fond memories working nights and weekends under tight deadlines with The Log staff in the basement of Palmer Hall. “We were miserable — and it was great,” he jokes. “If I had to do it alone, it would be terrible. But The Log staff is just the best group of people I’ve ever been blessed to work with,” he says.

Thinking out loud of the future, Michael’s long-term goals could include law school, and he might like to live and work in Washington, D.C., some day, “depending on where my studies take me.”

5

6

R

einaldo Maristany grew as a scholar, an athlete, and a leader during his four years at Loomis Chaffee, seizing one opportunity after another to tap his potential and turn his talents into accomplishments.

During Commencement, Reinaldo received the Nathaniel Horton Batchelder Prize, one of the school’s highest honors, which recognizes a student’s industry, loyalty, and integrity. “Every time Reinaldo was ready to say ‘no’ to an exercise, he took a breath and said ‘yes’ instead,” Head of School Sheila Culbert noted in his citation, quoting an anecdote from a faculty member.

When Reinaldo arrived at Loomis, he saw himself first and foremost as an athlete, in particular a football player as he had played the sport since third grade.

He picked up track in the spring of his sophomore year on the recommendation of Adrian Stewart ’90, a football and track assistant coach. Within the first weeks of track practice, Reinaldo strained his hip flexor and was out for the majority of the season. At the end of the season, though, one of his teammates was unable to compete in the New England Track and Field Championships, and the coaches asked Reinaldo to run the lead-off leg of the 4 x 100-meter relay. Having returned from his injury only a week earlier, there he stood, in front of a large crowd, eyes wide as saucers, baton in hand, ready to sprint his heart out. Nervous or not, Reinaldo rose to the challenge, running a stellar first leg to help propel his relay team to victory.

Taking the same approach to most things he does, athletic and otherwise, Reinaldo awaits the next challenge and jumps in with both feet. When he applied to Loomis, Reinaldo was one of seven ninth-grade applicants named an LC Scholar, a distinction offered

Reinaldo Maristany Loomis Chaffee Class of 2014 Hometown: New Rochelle, NY College: Princeton University to select prospective students who demonstrate exceptional leadership, outstanding academic work, and an extraordinary commitment to the school’s ideal of striving toward “the best self and common good.”

As part of the LC Scholars Program’s emphasis on service learning and international travel, Reinaldo took his first trip outside the country in the summer after his sophomore year, spending two-and-a-half weeks in Ghana, a trip funded by the LC Scholars Program and organized through an educational travel organization called Rustic Pathways. In addition to exploring the African country, Reinaldo and other group members spent a week dedicated to community service, helping to build a school in a village, visiting an orphanage, and delivering donated shoes to middle school students.

The following summer, Reinaldo took a trip to Southeast Asia, also through Rustic Pathways, visiting Cambodia and Thailand with a peer he had met on the trip to Ghana. The trip followed a similar schedule mixing exploration and community service, which again allowed for experiential learning. Through both trips, Reinaldo not only became more self-sufficient, but also broadened his horizons. And he discovered a passion for government.

“In Ghana, I was able to see firsthand the disparity between the wealthy and the poor as we drove from the south to the north, and I started to think about it in terms of my hometown and how the government affects people’s lives.”

Thoughtful and quietly confident, Reinaldo has made a mark on the Loomis community. Chosen to serve as a prefect in Kravis Hall in his junior year and a Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

resident assistant in Taylor Hall as a senior, he was elected by his peers as head resident assistant this year. He also served as a tour guide, was a member of PRISM (People Rising in Support of Multiculturalism), and mentored underrepresented students through the Pelican Support Network. His leadership extended to the athletics realm as well. He was co-captain of the football and track and field teams as a senior.

Meanwhile, he conquered a challenging course load that included Advanced Placement Literature, Advanced Placement French IV, Advanced Placement Calculus AB, Globalization (a history advanced term course), Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Social Psychology, International Relations, and Death & Dying.

The school’s emphasis on a well-rounded approach to life appealed to Reinaldo. What he loves most about Loomis, he says, is that the “teachers care about what the students are doing for extracurricular activities and that coaches care about what athletes are doing academically.”

Although leadership seems to come naturally to Reinaldo, he reflects that he constantly had to push himself to realize his potential, and he continually learned new things about himself in doing so. Talented, hard-working, and admired, Reinaldo is respected by his peers and faculty alike.

Come fall, Reinaldo will attend Princeton University, where he was recruited to play football. In choosing where he would do his undergraduate studies, Reinaldo says he was looking for a community similar to that of Loomis and notes that he will miss the friends that he made and everyone who helped him on his journey during the past four years.

“The community is what made Loomis a second home,” he says.

7

8

E

Ekaterina Kryuchkova

katerina Kryuchkova prefers the unvarnished truth. She laughs and shakes her head when someone tells her she has determination. “I am stubborn,” she declares, and she offers a case in point.

Kath, as she likes to be called, enrolled in Advanced Placement Physics II as a junior because she received credit for Physics I from her previous school back home in Moscow, Russia. But the earlier course had not covered all the fundamentals of physics, a fact that quickly became clear in the opening weeks of AP Physics at Loomis. She persevered, however, declining advice to switch to a science class more in keeping with her experience. “I got the midterm [grade], and I said, ‘Oh, look, it’s not a failing grade. I’m not switching,’” she recalls.

And she didn’t. “Mr. [Edward] Pond is a great teacher,” she adds, suggesting that her eventual success in the class was not due to her bootstrap determination alone.

Call it perseverance or stubbornness, but Kath’s decision to stick with one of the hardest courses in the Loomis curriculum did no harm to her academic standing in the end. The top female scholar in the Class of 2013, she received the Charles Henry and Mary Chaffee Willcox Prize at Commencement. In awarding Kath with the prize, Head of School Sheila Culbert described this scholar as “an extraordinary young woman [who] took advantage of every opportunity Loomis had to offer and gave back in the process, contributing immeasurably to our community.”

Kath came to Loomis Chaffee as a sophomore after finding Russian schools at home too limiting for her intellect and thirst for challenge. “The teachers would always tell me, ‘I know that you know it, so just be quiet,’” she says.

British schools would have required her to take a year of intensive English before

Loomis Chaffee Class of 2013 Hometown: Moscow, Russia College: Brown University following their regular curriculum, and Kath didn’t want to delay her education.

She heard about Loomis through one of her father’s colleagues whose son had attended the school.

Language did present a major challenge for Kath during her initial months on the Island. “The first half of sophomore year was brutal,” she says. The first book that her sophomore English class read was Grapes of Wrath, and Kath struggled to understand the dialogue. “John Steinbeck transcribes regional accents, and you can’t look those up,” she says.

Precalulus/Calculus proved to be a more comfortable environment in her first weeks because she could use gestures to ask questions or explain her ideas, much to teacher Pam Byrne’s good-natured amusement. Language and culture also presented a social obstacle until Kath’s English fluency improved and she adjusted to the American social mores.

At first, she says, she found it easier to make friends with freshmen who were more reticent — and less talkative — than many of the sophomores she encountered.

But English didn’t hinder Kath for long.

An excellent language learner — she already was fluent in Spanish as well as her native Russian — Kath’s English improved dramatically through immersion, and she thrived in and out of the classroom. Academically, she received five departmental prizes as a junior and four as a senior. She also earned induction into the Cum Laude Society and recognition as an AP Scholar with Distinction.

Math is her particular academic strength among many. In the college-level course Multivariable Calculus, which she took this year along with Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

Linear Algebra, she earned 100 percent on every test from September until Winter Break in December, after which she received a 97 on a test and declared the streak over. Hardly a slacker, she maintained an A+ in the class through the end of the year. Intellect, not grades, however, is the driving force behind Kath’s scholastic excellence. In her junior year, for instance, she did an independent study in language because she had completed the school’s regular course offerings in Spanish. The project involved comparing a short story by Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez in its original Spanish to a short story by Anton Chekov in its original Russian.

Beyond the classroom walls, Kath wrote for The Log and edited The Loomis Chaffee World Bulletin; served as a senior leader at the Sophomore Retreat and a peer tutor in math; participated in the Foreign Policy Association and Model United Nations; played guitar in the Jazz Band; and helped found the Crafts for a Cause Club, whose members knit for charities.

During her three years at Loomis, Kath says she gained self-confidence and developed more awareness of and appreciation for other people. “It’s hard to believe, but I used to be really shy, anxious, self-conscious too. But that’s really how all 15-year-olds are,” she says. Her more outward focus and acceptance of differences among people enriched her Loomis experience. Now, she says, “I just look at this other person, and I say, ‘I am just so happy that we are going to the same school at the same time.’”

In the fall, Kath will enter Brown University, where she expects she will pursue a double major in math and — something else. She’s not sure about the other half of the double major yet because so much interests her. “That’s my problem,” she says. “I like everything.” And that’s the unvarnished truth.

9

10

P

Paul Lee ondering the list of classes, sports, and activities in Paul Lee’s life at Loomis Chaffee may leave you breathless.

Here’s a partial accounting of his many roles as a senior: Cum Laude scholar with three year-long AP or advanced classes along with two electives every term; Student Council president; resident assistant in Taylor Hall; managing editor of The Log; member of the varsity cross country, swimming, and tennis teams; award-winning participant in Model United Nations; and cellist in the Orchestra (where he was principal cellist), in the Chamber Music Ensemble, and for the 8 a.m. Mass on Sundays at St. Gabriel’s Church in Windsor.

Even more amazing may be Paul’s full commitment to each of his pursuits and his humbleness despite many academic and community honors. He is quite possibly one of the nicest people you ever could meet. For these qualities, his peers adore him, as evidenced by the resounding cheers of his classmates as Paul stepped to the Commencement stage in June to receive the Nathaniel Horton Batchelder Prize for industry, loyalty, and integrity.

Paul’s broad involvement in the school overwhelmed him at times, he says, but this Yale-bound scholar would not trade in any of his many, varied experiences on the Island. They helped him encounter new people and new interests, discover untapped strengths, and gain confidence.

As a freshman, the advice of faculty and older students rang in his ears: “Get involved. Try new things.” So he did. He ran successfully for Student Council representative, joined the Orchestra, wrote for The Log. Sports especially offered him opportunities to step out of his comfort zone. “Before coming to Loomis, I never considered myself an athlete,” he says. He had

Loomis Chaffee Class of 2013 Hometown: Palisades Park, NJ College: Yale University played tennis in middle school but had pursued no other sports. As a freshman, he heeded the advice of his prefect, Mike Curtin ’11, and tried wrestling. As a sophomore, Mike’s advice led Paul to cross country. “I loved it from the start,” Paul confirms, and he continued to run every fall. During the winter of his sophomore year, he tried out for the swim team and was cut, but he tried out again as a junior and made the team, continuing with that team through his senior year. The endurance work improved his tennis as well, and by junior year, Paul moved up from the JV to the varsity tennis team.

With each passing year and in every realm, Paul grew into more of a leader, whether by example or by position — and often both. In the classroom, he rose to the challenges of an increasingly advanced curriculum. He counts Chemistry I Advanced with Robert DeConinck in his sophomore year and Advanced Placement Calculus BC with Barry Moran this year among his most challenging courses, and he developed deep respect for the passion that his teachers shared for their subjects. His AP Spanish class with Courtney Carey and AP U.S. History with Mark Williams, both in his junior year, solidified his interest in the humanities. “Those two classes and those two teachers were the biggest influences in shaping what I want to study in college,” he says. Although it’s still early to decide, the Ethics, Politics & Economics major at Yale interests him.

Beyond the classroom, Paul took on more responsibility each year, serving as news editor then managing editor of The Log, serving as a prefect then an RA in the dorms, moving up to princi-

Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

pal cello in the Orchestra, and winning election as Student Council president.

Dorm life at Loomis played a crucial role in Paul’s development as a person and a leader. “Going to boarding school was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. … The biggest thing I learned was taking responsibility,” says Paul, who grew up in New Jersey and whose parents and younger brother now live in South Korea. As a freshman in Kravis Hall and a sophomore in the small enclave of Longman Hall, he watched his prefects in action and applied these lessons when he became a prefect and an RA. Ever humble, Paul sees leadership not as power, but rather as service and responsibility. He listens more than he speaks. As Student Council president, he strove to make sure every voice was heard on issues under consideration.

He also learned to put his confidence in others. “I think that I grew as a leader when I abandoned the ‘only I can do it’ mentality,” he reflects. And he learned to reach out to others — close friends, family members, teachers — when he felt overwhelmed. Their support, he says, carried him through a busy and fulfilling senior year.

Attached and devoted to the community that nurtured him for four years, Paul set a goal this year of meeting every person on the Loomis campus — students, faculty, and staff — and he came close to reaching it. As he looks ahead to college and beyond, Paul says he will miss the simple pleasures of Loomis life, like walking around campus with his friends.

“Seeing familiar faces all over campus — it really makes it home,” he says. Paul is too modest to admit that he’s the one who made it feel like home, for himself and for the many Loomis students who found in him a good listener and a friend.

11

12

G

oalkeeper Abigail Pyne never thought she’d spend her senior year on the sidelines.

A player on national soccer teams since age 12, committed to Duke with a scholarship to play soccer since her sophomore year, and an All-American selection as a junior, Abby was on a non-stop track for success until a knee injury forced her to undergo intensive surgery with a 12-month recovery.

The physical demands of her position had caused extensive wear and tear on the cartilage beneath her knee cap, she explains. She had to either give up her life of soccer or undergo a relatively new surgical therapy called Carticel knee cartilage implantation. She chose the latter, dedicated, determined, and eager to get back out on the field.

The surgery, done in two parts, first took cells off the cartilage, which then were grown in a lab for a month. Once aggregated, the cells were placed in a membrane and fitted to the cartilage left under her knee, where they then would grow with time. A large brace covered Abby’s leg for most of her senior year as she underwent rehabilitation. “I remember the first time I was able to flex my quad muscle,” Abby reflects. “I was so excited. Becoming injured really taught me to appreciate the little things.”

Abby also had a large support network within the Loomis community rooting for her recovery. From south-central Maine, Abby came to Loomis as a junior, seeking a more rigorous academic experience than her hometown school offered. While she acknowledges that she was somewhat nervous about the transition, she recalls now that the change went very smoothly. Moving onto campus for pre-season soccer before fall classes, Abby notes that she quickly gained 30 friends on the soccer team and another 40 soon thereafter in her dorm. “What’s great about Loomis

Abby Pyne Loomis Chaffee Class of 2014 Hometown: Dixmont, ME College: Duke University is that there are students and faculty who actually live here,” she says. “I’ve become so close with the faculty members and students at this point that it feels as though I have so many different families.”

Abby had an immediate impact on the varsity soccer team, which went 13-1 during the regular season and earned a berth in the New England Tournament, losing in the quarterfinals. In a testament to Abby’s skill as a goalkeeper, opponents scored a total of just eight goals against Loomis over the course of the 2012 season and post-season, compared to the 54 goals that the Pelicans scored on their opponents that season.

That winter Abby proved her mettle on the basketball court as well, playing a pivotal role on the varsity team.

Her injury caught up with her, however, during the summer between her junior and senior years, and the first surgery took place in the fall of her senior year.

While Abby faced a long road of rehab, she stayed active in athletics and excelled academically, and she remained a leader. Despite being unable to play, she was elected co-captain of the soccer and basketball teams, and she managed the boys track and field team. Her injury, while challenging at times, offered a perspective Abby would have not have seen otherwise. Abby says she is now “mentally stronger as an athlete and hungrier than I ever was [to get back in the net.]” She also has developed a more tactical understanding of the game of soccer. Watching from the sidelines raised her awareness of the game’s intricacies and cultivated her into a better player, leader, and all-around athlete.

One of her favorite pieces of advice, which came during her junior year, Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

was from basketball coach Adrian Stewart ’90, who urged her to “be honest with everything,” whether it was a workout, with her teammates, in the classroom, or simply in facets of everyday life. After ignoring her body’s signals and pushing her limits too far prior to her surgery, she found Adrian’s advice helped her to persevere and also be mindful of her limitations moving forward.

Throughout her life Abby has believed that “if you work hard, you can achieve anything.” Her Loomis experiences reinforced that belief. Whether on the sidelines or in the midst of action, Abby continually sets her mind and stays focused, determined to be her best and set an example.

An inspiration to and a positive influence on both students and faculty, Abby notes that many more people made her life better at Loomis than she could have hoped to touch.

Abby says she plans to pursue a medical track in college and beyond, with the goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon, a career aspiration solidified through her injury. She wants to help others who battle sports injuries as she has. For now, though, she is focusing on her own rehabilitation and preparation for her college career. After spending two weeks in Belize this summer working at an orphanage, she planned to begin training for the fall season at Duke in July.

13

14

W

hen Lauren Horn was preparing to perform at the White House a couple of years ago, she got cold feet. Literally.

“I was so nervous before we went on,” she recalls. “When I get nervous, my feet get cold. But I need my feet to stay warm to tap dance.”

The audience included First Lady Michelle Obama as well as actors Forest Whitaker and Sarah Jessica Parker and other members of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The occasion honored the Artists Collective of Hartford, where Lauren studied dance, and 14 other community organizations from around the country. The Artists Collective was invited to perform at the ceremony, and the collective chose members of its youth Jazz Orchestra to play a musical piece created for the occasion and Lauren to tap dance to the lively tune.

Luckily, Lauren does not get cold feet in the figurative sense. A powerhouse of positive energy, she approaches every day and every challenge as an opportunity. Chilly toes or not, there was no stopping her from putting on her tap shoes and stepping onto the stage set up in the East Room of the White House.

Once the music started and she began to dance, Lauren says she was having too much fun to feel nervous. Michelle Obama herself led a standing ovation for the performance.

Dance — tap, ballet, jazz, modern, hip hop — takes up a large chunk of every day for Lauren. Yet this dynamo carved out time for full involvement in Loomis Chaffee life as well, from a full load of challenging courses to singing in the Concert Choir, competing on the swim team, participating in the multicultural organization PRISM, and serving as a senior leader for the Sophomore Retreat.

“Time management is my best friend,”

Lauren Horn Loomis Chaffee Class of 2013 Hometown: Windsor, CT College: Amherst College she says with a characteristic beaming smile. On a typical Wednesday this year, she attended classes until 12:35 p.m., spending her one free period getting a head start on homework. After lunch, she rehearsed with Loomis’ Dance Company 2 then parked herself at Katharine Brush Library to do homework until about 6 p.m., when her mom picked her up to take her to Hartford for two hours of dance classes. When she and her mother arrived at their home in Windsor at close to 9 p.m., Lauren ate dinner then returned to her homework until bed time.

During her three years at Loomis and her previous middle school years, Lauren says she learned to use gaps in her schedule wisely, to write down everything she needed to do, and not to procrastinate. “I was really nervous about the planbook system and the schedule” when she came to Loomis, she says, but she adjusted well. She chose to attend Loomis because of its friendly, open community and its inspiring classroom environment, where students are encouraged to speak up. “The teachers treat you in a way that you want to learn,” she says.

Although literature and language draw Lauren’s keenest academic interest, she says she is keeping an open mind about where she will focus her studies at Amherst College beginning next fall. She is certain, however, that she will pursue a dance minor and is excited about the dance program at Amherst and the dance opportunities in the five-college system of which Amherst is a member.

Her passion for dance dawned early in her life. At age 3, she started tap dance and then African dance at the Artists Collective. By age 11, she was in the Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

highest-level tap class, and she also studied jazz, ballet, and modern dance.

She danced with Dance Company 2 as a junior and senior. And this year she also began studying at Studio 860 in Hartford, where she focused on modern and jazz dance and joined the studio’s hip-hop dance team.

The hip-hop team traveled to New York City to try out for the television program America’s Got Talent earlier this year, an experience Lauren and her dozen teammates will always remember. After taking a train to the city, they navigated their way to the enormous hotel where the auditions took place. An animated storyteller, Lauren describes the backstage scene as intense. “All the other dance teams are there, and they’re all glaring at you,” she narrates with a furrowed brow. “And you’re, like, ‘Hi!’” she continues as her face smoothens into a perky smile. Her team didn’t make it onto the show, but the group auditioned well, Lauren says, and benefitted from the experience.

Lauren looks eagerly toward her next set of adventures at college, but she knows she will miss the Loomis community, her teachers and advisor, the Island campus, and her Loomis friends.

She also will miss the certainty of the school that became her second home over the last three years. “I’m going to miss just being here,” she says, looking around her. “I’m going to miss knowing what I’m up against.”

For this young woman who has performed at the White House and managed a daily schedule that rivals that of the commander-in-chief, uncertainty won’t deter her for long.

15

“ The teachers treat you in a way that you want to learn.”

— Lauren Horn ’13

“ I chose Loomis Chaffee

16

because when I visited and talked to other students on campus, I sensed there was a great atmosphere here. They didn’t hold back when they were speaking with me, and their confidence came through.”

— Michael Carter ’15

“ I think that I grew as a leader when I abandoned the ‘only I can do it’ mentality.”

— ­ Paul Lee ’13

“ [T]eachers care about

what the students are doing for extracurricular activities and … coaches care about what athletes are doing academically.”

— Reinaldo Maristany ’14

“ Grades are important.

But they are not everything.”

Joseph Hinton ’16

— Mairead “Maisie” Campbell ’15

“ That’s my problem.

17

I like everything.”

— Ekaterina Kryuchkova ’14

Bobby Cecere ’16 Abby Pyne ’14

18

T

ake our advice: Avoid batting when Bobby Cecere is pitching. His mental focus is as formidable as his fastball, which has been clocked as high as 90 miles per hour. When he steps on the mound, his emotions disappear. His face relaxes, and his mind seems to turn inward. He describes a feeling of invincibility and calm. “I’m totally at peace when I’m on the mound,” he says.

Baseball, however, is far from the only focus of Bobby’s attention and talent.

As far back as he can remember, he has wanted to become an orthopedic surgeon, combining his love of biology and his fascination with the way the body works. His all-time favorite classes at Loomis were the advanced science courses Microbiology and Molecular Biology. At Yale, he plans to follow a premed course of study and major in cellular and molecular developmental biology.

At Loomis, Bobby was perhaps best known for his central role in bringing the Special Olympics to campus. When he was a sophomore, he heard that the Special Olympics Northern Connecticut Spring Trials needed a new competition site for track and field, swimming, and other events. Bobby jumped on the opportunity, convinced Loomis to host the event, and then took charge of organizing a major volunteer effort.

With a committee of other students, he set out to recruit what he hoped would be 70 to 100 volunteers among the students, faculty, and staff at Loomis to help athletes, serve lunch, coordinate events, run activity tables, and serve as supportive “fans in the stands.” In the end, more than 300 volunteers stepped up for the May 2014 event. The Spring Trials returned to the Island in 2015 and 2016, each year with more volunteers than the year before.

“This event has become a seminal mo-

Robert Cecere Loomis Chaffee Class of 2016 Hometown: Glastonbury, CT College: Yale University ment in our community,” says Bobby’s advisor, Dean of Students Nick Barker.

Along with many others on campus, Nick marvels at Bobby’s skill and commitment. “Organizing this event is a major undertaking, and Bobby (did) an amazing job delegating and developing leadership opportunities,” Nick says.

“His dedication to Special Olympics forges a legacy of his selfless spirit.”

In large part because of his work with the Special Olympics, Bobby this spring received Loomis’ inaugural Matthew Whitehead Prize, which honors students who create and maintain an inclusive community at the school.

Bobby’s family has been involved in the Special Olympics organization for generations. His great grandmother was a Special Olympics pioneer in New York, his aunt works for the Special Olympics in New Jersey, and his cousin also is involved in the organization.

But it was playing sports with peers with special needs that cemented Bobby’s enthusiasm for the Special Olympics.

In the sixth grade he started playing Unified Sports, a Special Olympics program with co-ed teams that combine equal numbers of players with and without intellectual disabilities. He loved the experience. “To see the sportsmanship they had was incredible,” he says.

“They’re smiling because they love playing the game.”

Although he played town baseball and swam competitively from an early age, Bobby liked participating but didn’t relish competing. “I was a sore loser,” he says. “If my teammates didn’t do well, I’d get on them.” When he began playing Unified Sports, he caught on to the joy Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

of camaraderie and sportsmanship. He turned to encouraging his teammates instead of blaming them for mistakes. He still, however, took a passive approach to competition, which isn’t a problem unless an athlete wants to excel.

As a freshman at Loomis, he recognized that he would have to go up against older and bigger athletes to earn spots on varsity teams and to play for those teams. His days of age-group competition were behind him. He started to push his limits and play more aggressively, and his competitive spirit was unleashed. He made the varsity swimming and baseball teams. He sought competition everywhere. “I used to try to beat everyone at everything I did,” he says. At swim practice, he wouldn’t just try to finish first in the workouts. He’d try to win the warmup and cooldown too, he recalls with a sheepish smile.

His competitive nature matured as he became an upperclassman. Winning is still important to him, he says, but it has a different meaning, wrapped up in what the team accomplishes in the effort to win and in the satisfaction of knowing you did everything you could to help the team succeed. He has more respect for his opponents as well. Competition motivates him to better himself, he says.

Ambitious, accomplished, confident, and competitive, Bobby found a way to make situations that could have been all about him into experiences that were all about community. “At the end of the day, he wants to improve the lives of those around him,” Nick says. “He seeks to lift people up.”

19

20

“A

Biridiana “Biri” Guerrero

game-changer,” is the fitting description of Biridiana “Biri” Guerrero offered by her college counselor, Amy Thompson. A first-generation Mexican-American from urban Chicago, Biri has embraced the educational challenges and opportunities that have come her way. In making the most of her Loomis Chaffee experience, Biri contributed broadly to the community and inspired her classmates, teachers, friends, and others at the school with whom she made a connection.

In her hometown, Biri was selected from among hundreds of applicants to receive a Daniel Murphy Scholarship — awarded to select students in underserved populations from Chicago who demonstrate academic potential and strong character for college prep high school scholarship.

Biri says she had little idea about what to expect from a boarding school other than the stereotypes she’d seen on the television series Zoey 101, which takes place in a fictional California boarding school. Her admissions revisit at Loomis included an overnight stay in the dorm with Nana Minder ’14 as her host. Nana discovered that it was Biri’s birthday, so she made posters and encouraged others to give Biri a warm reception on her special day. “It was so nice,” says Biri. “I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly everyone is here.” That revisit-day friendship solidified Biri’s decision to attend Loomis, and she stays in touch with Nana, her friend and fellow dancer, to this day.

Coming to Loomis was a a big change for Biri. At first, journeys from Chicago to Windsor and back were filled with trepidation, due to her lack of air travel experience. Being away from home and the comfort of her family for the first time freshman year was difficult as well.

And, she says, coming from a Chicago public middle school to Loomis, “I had

Loomis Chaffee Class of 2015 Hometown: Chicago, IL College: Purdue University to get used to being around all these people who actually wanted to get a better education — that was a big change.”

Biri’s willingness to accept challenges has led to great experiences and life-changing opportunities. With no prior knowledge of the game of golf, Biri applied to participate in the Summer Golf Caddie Program offered through the Daniel Murphy Foundation while at home in Chicago on summer break her freshman year. Caddying was not just a good summer job, though. Requiring patience, dedication, and perseverance, the experience helped her develop skills for academic and personal success and became an investment in her future.

With a four-year scholarship through the Western Golf Association’s Chick Evans Scholarship Foundation, given to caddies with a strong record, excellent academics, and outstanding character, Biri will attend Purdue University in Indiana this fall. She will continue to caddy during the summer while in college, and her long-term goals include study in civil or environmental engineering with an eye toward a future career in engineering.

The caddying experience also inspired her to pick up the clubs herself to play on the Loomis Chaffee girls golf team.

Biri pursued a wide range of interests at Loomis, and the campus felt her influence. She became a passionate environmentalist and was one of the first students to receive a Gilchrist Environmental Fellowship as she helped build the fledgling agricultural program and worked as an e-proctor for the sustainability program for three years. She received honors her sophomore, junior, and senior years in science — one of her strongest subjects.

Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

“As head e-proctor Biri was responsible for communication and general organization of the 15 other e-proctors, and she communicated very well and inspired others to do good work,” says Jeffrey Dyreson, science teacher and director of environmental/sustainability initiatives. “She also managed the chicken care schedule, oftentimes stepping in and doing the work herself.

Suffice it to say that Biri leaves behind a wonderful legacy and the program in great condition.”

As a peer counselor and a mentor in the Pelican Peer Support Network, Biri shared her experiences in support of her fellow students. In the dance studio and on the NEO stage, Biri brought her talent to Loomis’ dance program, especially in the annual Dance Revue, where she was a stand-out performer. She also served as team manager for the boys varsity football and hockey teams and played on the varsity squad of the girls golf program as a senior.

Biri’s ability to forge relationships with individuals and groups from varied backgrounds and experiences has been a defining factor in her success story.

In the scholarship organizations, the caddying program, her studies, and her activities at Loomis, the relationships she has built along the way have been “game-changing” for Biri, inspiring her to keep pursuing opportunities for growth and development.

Biri’s advice to incoming freshmen is to take advantage of the many potentially life-changing opportunities at Loomis, as she has done, from participating in athletics to engaging in Global Studies travel. “Keep in mind, your four years here will go by fast, so make the most of them,” she says.

21

22

A

n international student from Bangkok, Thailand, Doyle Lokitiyakul arrived as a freshman — after a 24-hour flight from home — unaccompanied and undaunted at the prospect of joining the community and eager to take advantage of all the educational, social, and cultural opportunities available to him at Loomis Chaffee. Then, as now, Doyle is an individual concerned for the needs of others and the environment, a diligent and inquisitive student who is open to new experiences and different perspectives and has a positivity that inspires everyone around him.

Early in his Loomis career, Doyle became an integral part of the school community, lending his leadership and infectious enthusiasm to life on the Island in numerous ways. As a freshman, Doyle was selected as a Centennial Ambassador along with 10 of his classmates.

Over the next four years, the Centennial Ambassadors shared in the planning for and celebration of the school’s 100th year, their senior year.

With an inquisitive and positive spirit, Doyle is a natural at making connections with others, even in a place as foreign to him as the United States. He asks questions with genuine interest and a clear desire to gain insights and develop relationships.

At Loomis Doyle developed a broader relationship with his teachers than he had been able to achieve in the English-speaking schools he attended in Bangkok. Teachers at Loomis are respected, as are those in Bangkok, but Loomis teachers also serve as “parents away from home and like friends that you can have a conversation with over the dinner table. It was a pleasant surprise,” he says. Through the relationships he developed with peers and adults in the Loomis community, he gained a cultural understanding of life in the United States. “A few people even

Doyle Lokitiyakul Loomis Chaffee Class of 2015 Hometown: Bangkok, Thailand College: Washington University in St. Louis took the time to explain the game of American football to me,” he says.

Doyle learned another early lesson in the power of collaboration when he was uncertain about asking for help in his studies. “I was so excited about being independent that I thought I should be able to do everything all by myself, with just my own effort,” he explains. His advisor at the time, Aimee MacGillivray, pointed out to him the many resources for collaborative assistance — teachers, peers, librarians, and the Math Department’s Quantitative Resource Center.

Doyle says he came to realize that “there [is ] learning that happens in a group, that you can’t do alone.”

Doyle reciprocated the support he received from others in the community.

His participation in the Backcountry Program was notable for the patience, kindness, helpfulness, and support Doyle offered to everyone involved, says Pete Gwyn, a faculty leader of the program and an inspiring figure in Doyle’s Loomis experience. An alternative to interscholastic sports, the Backcountry Program involves outdoor activities, including snowshoeing, hiking, trail-blazing, outdoor community service, and canoe trips. Doyle says the transformative experience with his peers and Pete “really pushed me, a city kid, beyond my comfort zone.” That is no small praise coming from a well-traveled adventurer who enjoys expedition trips with his mother to such far-flung places as Mongolia, Krakatoa in Indonesia, and the Antarctic Peninsula.

A strong student of the sciences, Doyle’s senior courses included Microbiology, AP Physics, and Advanced Organic Chemistry as well as Multivariable Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

Calculus. Microbiology, taught by Scott MacClintic ’82, was one of Doyle’s favorite classes, in part because of Scott’s “flipped classroom” method of instruction, which delivers lecture material as video recordings for students to view outside the classroom as homework and thus devotes time in the classroom to hands-on experimentation and research, an activity Doyle enjoys.

Doyle also tested his artistic mettle in creative writing class, and he discovered that science and creativity are not mutually exclusive. “With artistry and talent, wit and style as his constant companions, Doyle deserves high praise for his spirited compositions, showing the endless possibilities a creative mind can find within a given structure,” comments his creative writing teacher, Phyllis Grinspan.

Beyond the classroom, Doyle immersed himself in every aspect of the Norris Ely Orchard Theater, from performing to working on the tech crew. He received the junior theater and dance award and the Morris H. Brown Senior Dance & Theater Prize. In presenting the senior award, Candice Chirgotis, head of the Theater and Dance Department, said, “Doyle approaches each NEO task or challenge with confidence, commitment, competence, and abundant exuberance. Reliable, enthusiastic, trustworthy, a generous spirit, Doyle well deserves his popularity.”

In the fall, Doyle will attend Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and says he is interested in going into some aspect of health care.

Until he heads to Missouri, however, Doyle is spending the summer at home, returning to the elephant conservation sanctuary in northern Thailand where he has volunteered for the last five summers.

23

24

W

Joseph Hinton ho is Joe Hinton? Ask Joe this question and he will tell you he is still figuring that out.

“I’m kind of an enigma. I’m still confused by myself every day,” he says.

The Athlete: When Joe arrived at Loomis as a freshman, he wanted football to be his identity. “I wanted to be the running back and score touchdowns,” he says.

He played on the football team for three years, gaining playing time each year and working hard over each summer to improve his strength. But, he says, he didn’t grow much physically or as a football player, and he came to realize he didn’t love the game. By the end of his junior season, he had decided it would be his last. As a senior, he played varsity soccer.

Joe tried a couple of different spring sports as well. He started as a baseball player but discovered he didn’t love the sport, so in his sophomore spring he turned his attention to lacrosse. Here was a sport he enjoyed and in which he could improve. “I do what I can to help the team when I’m in there,” he reflected near the end of his senior season. He was named an Academic All-American in lacrosse this spring for his combination of academic excellence and athletic achievement.

The Actor: Joe acted in elementary and middle school plays, and he took acting classes at Loomis. While watching the annual Student Council Benefit Concert during his sophomore year, he realized that he missed performing on stage.

The following year he auditioned for the winter musical, Oklahoma!, and he landed the part of Cord Elam, the federal marshal in the town.

After deciding to give up football, being in the Oklahoma! cast helped Joe reshape his sense of identity. “Doing the

Loomis Chaffee Class of 2016 Hometown: Middletown, CT College: Brown University musical really helped me out, not only for my acting, but being able to mesh with a whole new group of friends,” he reflects.

Joe was cast in an even bigger part this winter, in the musical Young Frankenstein. As Inspector Kemp, he played the Transylvania town’s zanily serious lawman with an eye patch, a wooden right arm, and a wooden left leg. The role was both physically demanding and great fun for Joe, and the audiences loved it.

As a returning actor, Joe already felt comfortable in the Norris Ely Orchard Theater this winter, and he felt a sense of unity with the Young Frankenstein cast and crew. In sports and in the previous year’s musical, he says, he tended to focus solely on himself and his own performance. During Young Frankenstein, he watched rehearsals of scenes in which he didn’t have a part to see how they were developing. “I was concerned when other people were struggling with something,” he notes. “I cared about the entire musical as a whole, not just my own role.”

The Scholar: Along with an expanded understanding of his talents and interests, junior year brought an important acceleration in Joe’s academic growth.

An intelligent, high-performing student from the beginning, he developed a passion for learning in his junior year. “I really began to engage and like academics,” he says. He took the college-level science courses Microbiology and Molecular Biology, and he thrived. “I never really thought of myself as a science guy,” he says, but he loved the sophisticated laboratory work and the challenge of analyzing results and articulating what he learned.

Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

History has been a keen interest all along. He took the demanding year-long courses AP European History as a sophomore, AP U.S. History as a junior, and AP Government and Politics as a senior.

He talks about his fascination with the narrative of history (“It’s just a big story to me,” he says.) and the opportunities to connect themes related to historical events that happened centuries apart.

Joe made an impression on many at Loomis for eschewing singular labels.

When the Student Council held a “town hall” convocation in January 2015 and invited students to share meaningful life lessons from their time at Loomis, Joe, a junior at the time, talked about the importance of following one’s interests. Although he was better known on campus as a multi-sport athlete, he told his peers, “I took my talents to the NEO because I wanted to.” He encouraged the other students to do the same.

Loomis, he told them, is a place where individuality is respected and fostered.

When it came time to choose a college, Joe found himself examining his sense of identity once again. Acceptances arrived in his inbox from Harvard University, Brown University, and Amherst College, among others. Eventually, he chose Brown because he felt the school’s environment would best enable him to continue discovering himself.

“I’m a man of many contrasts,” Joe says in describing himself. He has bright sides and dark sides, he notes. He’s a romantic some days and completely the opposite on other days. “I think a lot. Sometimes I’ll be walking around campus, and it will seem like my mind’s blank. But I’m always thinking.”

25

26

C

Mairead “Maisie” Campbell

onfident. Concerned. Unassuming. Curious. With a quiet assuredness, maturity, commitment, and focus that belie her young age, Mairead “Maisie” Campbell has had a significant impact on the Loomis Chaffee community through her scholarship and leadership.

The word “accomplished” also belongs among her attributes. Recipient of the Charles Henry and Mary Chaffee Willcox Prize, given to the first scholar among the young women in the graduating class, Maisie is a member of Cum Laude Society, a National Merit Finalist, and an AP Scholar with Honor.

She received junior prizes in English, history, math, and science as well as the Chéruy Senior Foreign Language Prize, the Donald M. Joffray Senior Mathematics Prize, and the J. Newfield Senior Science Prize.

But accolades are not what motivates Maisie. Her inherent desire for learning, and her passionate concern for nature and the environment propelled her to delve deeply into subjects and activities related to the sciences and sustainability. The resulting academic achievement came about because of Maisie’s commitment to the learning process.

Her advisor, Dean of Faculty Katherine Ballard, says Maisie has “an incredible thirst and hunger for knowledge that I have rarely seen in my career. It’s no wonder she is a top scholar — she intrinsically ‘gets it.’ ” Characteristic of Maisie’s pursuit of discovery was her involvement with the organization Mission: Wolf. Her curiosity about wolves was initially sparked by her sister’s affinity towards them, leading Maisie to seek more information about wolves’ relationship to humans and the environment. Maisie and sophomore Jake Barbieri applied for and received a Gilchrist Environmental Fellowship to bring live wolf “ambas-

Loomis Chaffee Class of 2015 Hometown: South Glastonbury, CT College: Bowdoin College sadors” to campus with their handlers from Colorado-based Mission: Wolf.

The organization’s traveling education program seeks to connect people with nature for better understanding and outcomes for both. Maisie and Jake’s impetus for the project was to educate the Loomis community about the relationship between extinction and destroyed ecosystems and to show the effects that people’s ecological choices — whether related to recycling, water, or energy use — can have on the world around them.

Maisie’s interest in the environment also landed her in leadership roles, as president of Project Green and as an e-proctor. Her participation was instrumental in the development of the newly minted agricultural program at Loomis.

Beyond nature, Maisie’s compassion and empathy extends to all the communities of which she is a part. She credits many of her teachers, mentors, and coaches for helping her achieve academic success, guiding her toward her interests, and inspiring her to be her best self. One of the most influential, she says, was Allison Beason, who taught her math and coached her on the III lacrosse team.

“When I had her [as a teacher], she was going through chemotherapy treatments for cancer,” says Maisie. Acknowledging that the treatments must have been physically challenging for Allison, Maisie continues, “She always came to class with the best spirit. It was really inspirational how she handled everything.”

Katherine says Maisie herself is an inspiration as well. “Maisie has a kind of gracefulness — a way of moving through the world — which perhaps she gets from her connection to the environment Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

and nature,” says Katherine. “She has a quiet way about her that opens doors for people, makes you want to ask the next question.” Katherine adds that Maisie was also generous with her time and support for her classmates and friends in their endeavors.

“Grades are important,” says Maisie, “But they are not everything.” Capable of excelling in any advanced subject, Maisie chose her coursework based on what interested her, especially the sciences, math, and French language.

Katherine marvels at the level of fluency Maisie has reached due to her commitment to learn, with only a few weeks of immersion in French. Maisie says her favorite class was her freshman biology course. “It was mostly because of Mr. Chaudhary,” says Maisie, referring to science teacher Neil Chaudhary ’05. “He was so excited. I think he must have been a drama major or taught drama or something, and he really brought that enthusiasm to the class.”

After returning to work on a farm in South Glastonbury for the summer, Maisie is excited to attend Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, in the fall.

She intends to pursue a double major in math and environmental sciences.

Longer term, she plans to take advantage of some of Bowdoin’s internship opportunities, and perhaps continue to grad school. True to form, Maisie says, “I’ll see what suits me, and take it from there.”

27

28

I

n the J.K. Rowling novel Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, brainy Hermione Granger uses a Time Turner to add hours to her days so that she can take more classes than would fit in a regular day. While the Time Turner is a figment of fiction, it sometimes seemed that Joseph Lee had discovered just such a device during his three years at Loomis. He managed to engage intensively in some of the most advanced courses at the school while also devoting hours to honing his considerable musical skill, pursuing academic and music competitions at every turn, and thoughtfully guiding his peers as a leader in the dorm.

Academically, Joseph pretty much exhausted the math curriculum at Loomis by the time he graduated, taking Multivariable Calculus as a junior and Linear Algebra as a senior. He says he always enjoyed math, but during his junior year, he discovered the beauty of the discipline.

That same year, with encouragement from his multivariable calculus teacher, Joseph pursued mathematical research, leading to his entrance in the Siemens Foundation Competition in Math, Science & Technology. Out of nearly 1,800 projects entered in the competition, Joseph’s was one of 466 regional semifinalists — one of just eight from Connecticut schools — in this premier math and science research competition for high school students.

He excelled in science at Loomis as well.

In his junior year, Joseph completed Advanced Placement Physics II and qualified as a semifinalist in the U.S. Physics Olympics. As a senior in AP Chemistry II, Joseph earned the J. Newfield Senior Science Prize. Until this year, however, he thought chemistry was his nemesis.

After receiving an F in middle school chemistry, he says, he avoided taking high school chemistry for as long as possible. When he finally enrolled in AP

Joseph Lee Loomis Chaffee Class of 2016 Hometown: Fremont, CA College: Columbia University Chemistry II, he was surprised by how much he loved the course. “With a new mindset, I can step back and see the [big] picture and enjoy it,” he says.

Musically, Joseph discovered a passion through trial and error.

Here’s how he describes his initial experience playing musical instruments: “I started on violin. Hated it. Quit. Moved on to cello. Hated it. Quit.” But he needed an arts credit in middle school, so he decided to play the double bass because his older sister, Elizabeth ’14, played and the family already owned the instrument. He still never practiced, he says, until one Wednesday in the fall of his junior year at Loomis, when he decided he should give practicing a sincere try. He went to a practice room in the Hubbard Music Center at 12:30 p.m. Before he knew it, it was 6 p.m. and he had been playing the double bass the whole time, happily. After that, he says, he started “pretty much living in Hubbard.”

Last summer Joseph studied at the renowned Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. And last spring, he entered the Golden Era of Romantic Music International Competition on the double bass and won, earning the opportunity to play at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City in November 2015.

Accepted to the New England Conservatory for the Arts for college, Joseph was not sure he wanted to study music exclusively for four years. He chose instead to attend Columbia University. His plans for the fall are still taking shape, but most likely he will study engineering at Columbia and pursue music on the side through another program in New York City.

Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

Back in eighth grade when Joseph was deciding where to attend high school, he applied to a number of boarding schools, but he chose Loomis in part because his sister Elizabeth had a great experience on the Island and thought he would love the school too. “It’s the way you think,” he remembers her telling him. What she meant, he says, was “here [at Loomis] you are encouraged to ask why and how instead of just getting the result.”

Joseph also chose Loomis because of the opportunities to try everything that interested him. His challenge at Loomis was learning to balance all of his pursuits, both academic and extracurricular, and not to overcommit himself.

Joseph’s ability to balance his many commitments, including a dedication to community life, offered a model for other students to follow,. “His junior year in Taylor Hall was enough to let me know that he would make a fantastic student leader, but I did not know just how much reach Joseph would have within a dorm full of so many different kinds of residents,” shares Andrew Hutchinson, head of Taylor Hall. “He approaches everyone the same, with a sincere interest in their wellbeing and a keen understanding of how to communicate with any crowd.”

For his part, Joseph believes the Loomis community gave him at least as much as he offered. “Without the community that was available to me, I don’t see myself doing what I did,” he says. “People are on your side. They want to see you succeed.”

29

“ Keep in mind, your four

years here will go by fast, so make the most of them.”

— Biridiana “Biri” Guerrero ’15

“ Without the community

that was available to me, I don’t see myself doing what I did. People are on your side. They want to see you succeed.”

— Joseph Lee ’16

“ [T]here [is ]

learning that happens in a group that you can’t do alone.”

— Doyle Lokitiyakul ’15

Purpose Lived

Loomis Chaffee Senior Paths

The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor, Connecticut 06095 loomischaffee.org/admission