Dina Burkitbayeva, Jeff Zhou, Andrew Park, Jeni Lee, Rajeev Saxena, and Ben Levenback, Class of ’06 Jeni: “I think the greatest thing that is shared among this group of friends is the diversity—I actually think [former advisor to Asian Society] Aya Murata influenced all of our lives in one way or another! For instance, I worked with Dina on the Asian Arts Festival productions, and Jeff and I were part of the Chinese Taiwanese Student Association. Rajeev was part of IndoPak. Andrew was a new upper and was close to Ms. Murata, as she was onboarding many of the uppers.” Jeff: “Andover is where we all became friends, and it will always be the glue that keeps us together. We share this amazing Andover experience that’s impossible to fully describe to others.”
Jon Noll ’66, P’01, and Ida “Pinky” Rock Noll ’66, P’01 “Robbie Brown ’66 introduced us in September of 1965 after a service at Cochran Chapel,” said Pinky. “We spoke, and I think we made arrangements to meet again the following Sunday after church.” The future Mr. and Mrs. Noll had sparked a romance that has lasted 50 years. The pair went to sporting events and dances at Andover and took walks downtown and around the Abbot Circle. “It is difficult to recollect or appreciate the constraints upon us at that time,” said Pinky. “Abbot had a well-deserved reputation for diligently monitoring and supervising the interactions of boys and girls. Male visitors were allowed on Sunday after church only. We occasionally carved out ‘alone time’ at the local book store, but those moments were few and far between. Looking back on it, it’s amazing we stayed together! We would never have met had we not been at Andover and Abbot.”
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Andover | Reunion 2016