faces of andover book

faces of andover

Alex Westfall and Rani Iyer First printing, 2014.

faces of andover

“Any advice for finals?”“This too shall pass.”

"What's the best thing about your parents?""They let us... swing!"

The soda was gone...

... but the fun wasn’t.

“In the spring, there’s that notion that we’re near-ing the end of this chapter. It’s not just that we’re getting out of it, there’s also a sense of pride and completion.”

“In the spring, there’s that notion that we’re near-ing the end of this chapter. It’s not just that we’re getting out of it, there’s also a sense of pride and completion.”

“What’s the most annoying thing about being a twin?”

(In unison) “What?”

“What’s the best thing about the person you’re running with?”“His spunk.”“Her looks.”“His vocabulary.”

"This building has been a part of my life ever since I was two years old. Until I turned fourteen, I remember driving past Sam Phil on the way to school, admiring the big, beautiful building, and kind of curious about what was inside it."

“I love baking and I love to doodle.”“And you’ve set nine course records, right?!”“Yeah...”“Isn’t that a huge deal?”“Kinda.”

“Come on, girl, let’s hear ya sing.”

“I met Muham-mad Ali once. That was excit-ing.”

“So are you two best friends?”“Yes.”

Spent the afternoon getting lost in Boston with the in-spiration for this page, hug-ger, new friend, jokester, photographer extraordinaire, animal lover, and all-around great guy, Brandon.(Humans of New York)

“If you saw us in the newsroom, we’d constantly be yelling at each other. But there was always this underlying friendship that you probably wouldn’t notice.”

“My favorite thing about my sister? We’re not just best friends, we’re more than that. It’s like we’re twins.”

“Hey, you took mine!”

“It’s Senior Spring, so why not?”

“We’re saving up for new uniforms for our soccer team. But since you’re taking a picture that’s gonna make us famous, we’ll give you a free cup.”

“I’ve got a GREAT summer opportunity for you!”

“I took off all of my earrings before coming to Andover, be-cause I wasn’t sure how people would react. I still don’t really know, but I’ve realized that there are enough people here who care about me that it doesn’t even matter. So this marks my first day wearing them.”

“Three freshman boys started call-ing me ‘Hagrid’. He’s a big and husky guy do-ing all of the odd jobs... so yeah, I guess it fits.”

“What’s your big-gest aspiration?”

“I want to take a history class one day... something like that. I’m go-ing to continue learning. I’m not done yet.”

Birthday Boy.

“Teaching is sort of like plant-ing bulbs. You put them in the ground and let them figure it all out for a bit. You watch them grow, then all of a sudden, they understand ev-erything! They’ve bloomed!”

Spotted at the Spring Arts Festival.

“My phone case says ‘ Keep Calm and Carry On ’ for a reason. So many times you want to curl up and be done with ev-erything here, but you just need to keep on going.”

“If you had a piece of advice to give, what would it be?”“Puppy and baby gifs make people happy. That’s why we send them out in every theater email!”

“My biggest struggle was not too different from other people’s, it was time. Really, every aspect of life at Andover is theoretically bottomless or limitless. So you’re sort of plugging into it what you think you can at the moment, always feeling that there’s more to do, that you haven’t done everything possible. And that’s really tough to carry around. Always feeling like i’m kind of behind schedule, al-ways feeling like I’m on a run is some-thing that I struggled with. I think it takes a lot of the joy out of the ex-perience when you’re always on the clock.”

“My favorite part of Andover is the shared suffer-ing that unites everyone. It’s a wonderful place, but there’s something very powerful about shared suffering that gives this place an extra depth.”

"Advice?"

"Never forget that you've earned your place here. And find your people. The people who will be with you when you're having a meltdown are the ones you want to keep around."

“If you could give a piece of advice to all of us, what would it be?”“Don’t take your classes too seriously.”“Actually, just don’t take anything too seriously.”

“I remember auditioning for Grasshopper Night my fresh-man year, and my brother told me, ‘They don’t usually take solo acts or freshmen.’ And I was a fresh-man solo act, but I got in, and it was the best feeling.”

"I love that dance can turn your body into an art form. When I went to a full-time dance school before coming here, I didn't enjoy it as much because I was forced to do it. Now that dance is separated from academics, I can appreciate it much, much more."

“I’m a walking cliché! I realized I need to do something cool, like this summer or next year, because I’m so similar to everyone else. It’s like, what makes me me? I talk a lot, and I’m loud, and I kind of have a weird voice, and I run places a lot. Is that what makes me unique?”

“Sometimes it’s nice just to sit back, take a look at yourself, and remember why you’re here.”

"What's your favorite thing about Andover?" "I love walking to class in the morning. Not many people are in a very good mood then, but people still say wave and say hello. It starts the day off on a good note."

"Earlier, my future and what I wanted to do with college was always in the back of my mind. Now that it's senior spring, I don't have to worry about any of that."

"When we won against Exeter, it was like the Andover family finally came together. All the siblings were there; everyone loved each other."

"You two are so good at rollerblading. You must've been practicing for a really long time!""Yeah! Actually, no, we start-ed yesterday."

Shipping us all home.

“I’m pretty sassy for a “Hey, how’s it going?” kinda guy.”

"I want everyone to know that they are loved."

FOA X PA2015We asked the final six student council pres-idential pairs of the Class of 2015 to give us “15 words for 2015.” Here’s what they said.

“’We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just bet-ter at hiding it, that’s all.’ - The Breakfast Club’”

“Everyone is important here. Too often we are caught up in comparison and forget this.”

“We wouldn’t be running togeth-er if we couldn’t fully support each other. That’s true teamwork.”

“’Kinsey and Andrew are whatever An-dover needs them to be: the pair Andover deserves.’ - Batman”

“Let us revolu-tionize StuCo. The voice of the student body will be ignored no longer.”

“Let’s make the most of every day be-cause it won’t last forever!”

Bleeding blue until the very end.

"My advice would be to commit as many low-level offenses as possible because you can get as many censures as you want and not have anything reported to colleges, but I think they changed that rule this year, so you probably shouldn't do that."

“What is the key to a successful marriage?”“You’ve got to be the president of the Mr. Kip Fan Club. No matter what happens, no matter how bad it gets, I’m by his side.”“You need to treat the other person the way they want to be treated, and you have to keep learning.”

“Because we’re triplets, peo-ple refer to us as a unit. But we’re three really different people!”

“So tell me something that makes you stand out from your other two sisters.”

“I’m a bird watcher.”

“I play waterpolo.”

“Hmmm. I’m very book-ori-ented.”

“What was your biggest goal coming into Andover, and do you think you’ve achieved it?”

“I came into Ando-ver as a freshman, and all I wanted was to survive. I’d like to think that I’ve accomplished that.”

“I think my happi-est moment might have been when my little brother got into Andover. Definitely when I realized we’d be driving to school together!”

“I take pictures of everything be-cause I want to remember it all.”

“One of my teachers once told the class, ‘They say that we admit the best and brightest students, but I’ve never taught any of them’.... He ended up becoming my favor-ite teacher here.”

“Live your life with a negative delta G...it should always be spontaneous.”

“Coming to Silent Study is kind of like coming home at the end of a long day.”

“Do what you want to do, not what you believe you’re supposed to do.”

“The first time we had a good, long conversation, we were in the grave-yard. And the mo-ment we left, literal fireworks started going off.”

“There’s nothing in particular about the cello, I just love music, whether I’m on stage or singing Disney songs in front of Commons.”

“Andover taught me how to balance school with having fun. But just as importantly, it taught me to balance time with my family and time for mak-ing art.”

“What’ll you miss the most about Andover?”

“Is it okay if I say something cheesy? I’m just a cheesy per-son.”

“Just a second, I need to cook these chicken fin-gers, and then I’ll answer your questions, okay?”

“I still can’t believe how much spirit this place has!”

“The times when you just want all the hours and days to go by and get to the end of the week, it’s important to slow down and take in all of the moments like these-- the sights, sounds, and people you’re with. I’m just so lucky to be part of this place.”

“When I was re-hearsing for Dra-maLabs last year, there was a scene in which my char-acter had to do a split. When I attempted it, my shorts ripped. And I had to walk all the way back to my dorm in that... condition... That was a good one.”

“We’re the twins from Vanuatu!” “What’s different over there?”“Well, we were the only teenagers on our island, so this is pretty exciting.”

“The happiest mo-ment of my life? Okay here it is-- accepting that there will prob-ably never be a happiest moment in my life. It’s coming to grips with the fact that life is ups and downs. We’re all just riding the wave.”

“One of the hardest things about this school is that it’s really diffi-cult to stay cre-ative with all of this pressure. But that doesn’t really matter. This place helps you become more of a per-son.”

“The best thing about this place is the unknown. One time I was studying for a Japanese test in the comfy chair room. I looked up and saw for the first time a beautiful map of Phillips Academy that has been around a lot longer than I have. There is always something each day that tweaks your routine. You can never really anticipate any-thing.”

Spotted at the Pep Rally.

“If you could give a piece of advice to all of us, what would it be?”“FIND YOUR BEST FRIEND!”

“This corner of the newsroom is where a boy from Iowa and a girl from Russia fell in love.”“Fell in love?”“With photography, of course.”

“What’s your biggest struggle?”“Trying to find pants that fit me.”

“I just want to be known as ‘the compassionate guy.’”

“What was the happiest moment of your life?”“Having my daughter!”“Having my kids!”“Having MY daughter!” (Points to woman on far left)

“She cried with me Upper spring in a bathroom.”“He cried with me Senior fall in the Addison.”“For the rougher times, you need that one person that can do things like cry with you when you need them to.”“Exactly. Now that I think about it-- there’s no one else that would.”

"Do you have any advice?""Never shave your legs for anyone but yourself."

"Apparently I'm sort of unintentionally funny. I fell down the steps of Sam Phil on the first day I got here. I think I might have had a concussion, but I didn't go to Isham. I'm fine now. I hope."

"You guys need to drink more water! I watch you all with your coffee and Naked and other junk like that, and I totally get it because you guys need all of that stuff to keep you awake for all of your work, but trust me. Water is the way to go."

“What’s the best part about being a twin?”“That we can act in ex-actly the same crazy way that we normally do even when she’s all the way in Scotland. I actual-ly think our relationship has gotten better!”

"Take advantage of Andover's diversity. You will prob-ably never live in a place that is as richly diverse and multicultural as this place again. To leave here without taking advantage of it is a huge disservice."

Spotted in Upper Left.

"Oh my god! What hap-pened?""I dislocated my shoulder.""How!?""Uh... playing quidditch."

“We’ve been married for 33 years. We actual-ly met in the Library of Congress. We were both researching masculinity for our dissertations, and there weren’t many peo-ple researching that topic in the 70s.”

Fun fact: The painting on the wall is of Mr. Ro-tundo, painted by a now two-time Oscar-nominat-ed filmmaker.

"I’m a firm believer in the idea that you can have everything you would want in the world, but if you’re lonely, then it doesn’t mat-ter. At Andover, everyone struggles with feeling lonely while always being surrounded by people. And that is one of the reasons people feel so lonely. I feel like we have to understand that when people post on Facebook, Instagram, or Twit-ter, they’re gonna post pictures and statuses of their best mo-ments. They’re not going to post a picture of them cyring on their Bio textbook after an awful test. And, if we reach out and go looking for help, it’s totally there."

“My happiest moment was actually when I got my name, ‘Mama Lewis’. There was a girl I was close with who was writing a play for her drama class, and it was about an interracial couple, so she had me play the mom. They called me “Mama Jane,” and it stuck....I see myself as a natural born nurturer. I have one child of my own, but through this office, I’ve been able to take care of hundreds.”

"What's the biggest difference between France and Andover?""Well, everything here is so big. I had no idea that you could have more than one plate of food in Commons! Everywhere in France, you get one plate and that's it."

“I love fashion, and sometimes people make comments about my outfits that I wouldn’t have thought of. Once, when I was wearing disco leggings, people came up to me and told me that I looked like an alien.”

"What's a piece of advice you have for the Andover community?""Visit the Addison every once in a while. Art is good for you."

“The best moment of my life was definitely when I got accepted here. I didn’t have school that day, and I invited two of my best friends over, and I got my package as one of then was walking through my door. My mom, my cousins, my neighbors; they all came to me and it felt amazing.”

"I like her be-cause she makes me think. We're passion-ate about the same things and always end up talking about them. " "Usually it's feminism."

"We love our core group of 'regulars'; the students that come in every day. They all plop into their regular seats here at the PACC for hours on end. We just love getting to know the kids that stick around."

“I’ve made it my New Year’s resolution to be more gutsy.”

"We've had to put plants around this fountain because so many people have walked into the water without noticing.""Whenever it happened we would get so scared, but it just al-ways ends up being so funny."

“Tell me something about living in a two person dorm.”“They’re both named John so I only need to remember one name! But seriously, it’s like having a little extension to my family.”“People get confused when I tell them that I live in Mr. Hoyt’s house, but it’s actually the greatest dorm ever. He bakes us cookies!”

"When she first came to Andover, I was afraid that she would be too nice, and that people would take advantage of her. But over the past 2 years, I've seen her grow up. She's become a lot more perceptive and mature now.""I know everyone is really excited for the year to end, but I'm not because I don't know what I'm going to do without him next year!"

"We're always walk-ing together, so ev-eryone thinks that we're dating. But we're siblings!"

"Three years ago, I got encephalitis, and I almost died. Before that, I had always been independent but I was always thinking about everything else. Being sick re-ally brought me to center, and now I realize, 'I'm truly officer Wendy.'"

"What is your greatest struggle?""Trying to keep quiet."

“I won’t be teach-ing for the rest of this year, but I’ll be having a small child. It’s going to be an interdisciplinary proj-ect involving some biology, and probably some humanities work in terms of my understanding of keeping myself to-gether. I’m excited.”

"Before Andover, I had always been really weird around my family and normal around my friends. When I came here, I realized that my friends were my family now, and I could be as weird as I had always been. "

“I’m the only person that can make my little sister smile. We’re the same per-son. Shhh. She’s sleeping now.”

We did it.

“The greatest part about working in admissions is seeing all of the labeled welcome packages laid out, waiting to be Fed-exed on the first week of March. Our entire year’s work is in those! It’s always so exciting!”

"What do you like the most about each other?""Her stubbornness." “She has really nice ears.”"What's some advice you have for the community?"“Own Andover. Don’t let Andover own you.”

“After this nice, long vacation, be sure to take what I like to call ‘baby va-cations’ for the rest of the term. You will need it -- whether it be going downtown, watching a sports game, or something else. It’s not always as sunny and nice as the spring is, so always, always, always have something to look forward to!”

“One of my freshmen did a fabulous reenactment of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show!”

“My girls bought a fish for themselves!”

“What happens in Upper West, stays in Upper West.”

“I definitely have the sassiest girls!”

“We did Secret Santa in our hall, but everyone told each other who they had, so it’s no longer a

secret!”

THANKS. Written, Curated, and Edited by: Alex Westfall and Rani Iyer

Thank you to the Abbot Academy Association for funding the production of this book. Thank you to Brandon Stanton, our inspiration and friend. Thank you to every-one who commented and liked, to everyone who passed a photo onto a friend. And most importantly, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you to Andover for letting us explore its community in every way possible.

www.facebook.com/facesofandover

“Any advice for finals?”“This too shall pass.”

thank you. aw and ri