BALANCING SPORTS, ACADEMICS, AND FUN
JACQUELINE PRICE
T
he third of four children, Jackie Price, a tousled blonde with energy to spare, had lived with her family in Tulsa, Okla., for most of her life. But after two years at a small private high school, things seemed just a little too comfortable. She applied to Andover for admission as an 11th-grader. “I arrived on campus early, tried out for the varsity volleyball team, and was in with a group of potential friends right away,” she recalls. “Clyfe Beckwith, one of the first teachers I met at PA, was a fantastic volleyball coach. He was enthusiastic about every game and worked us hard to prepare, but he also understood the importance of taking a break in practice to play some fun games or even taking a day off to rest.” A standout competitor in volleyball, basketball, and crew, athletics were a major part of Price’s Andover experience and resulted in many awards, including the MVP Volleyball Award and the Robert L. Wurster Basketball Trophy, awarded to a senior member of the girls’ varsity basketball team who contributed the most to the sport through sportsmanship, endeavor, and ability. But Price’s number-one priority was always academics, and she soon discovered her most difficult classes were often the most rewarding. “I used to dread writing papers,” she says, “but Ms. Tousignant, who taught my upper English class, was incredibly helpful and encouraging. My writing improved tremendously in just a few months.” To augment classroom learning, Price made it a point to attend the many guest-speaker and guest-artist events on campus. As a proctor in Paul Revere her senior year, one of her roles was to help the younger girls adjust socially to their new life away from home. “With so many students at Andover, it’s not hard to find friends,” she says, adding, “It’s always exciting to meet kids whose backgrounds are very different from your own.” As a senior leader, Price and others came up with ideas for the Class of 2006 gift. “Then we basically heckled our classmates to donate,” she says with a laugh. Price worked as a nanny in New York City for much of the summer before heading to Columbia University, where she is likely to major in engineering or economics. Prior experience in Tulsa in a youth-run juvenile court for kids with minor misdemeanor offenses has Price contemplating law school in the future. —JC
“It’s always exciting to meet kids whose backgrounds are very different from your own.”