“Find Your Reasons to Stay” (10/30) To the Editor, Last week’s article, “Find Your Reasons to Stay” by Kennedy Edmonds ’12, brought to our attention the entitlement problem that we have here at Phillips Academy. Mr. Edmonds compares a Phillips Academy education to “a formerly beloved toy,” and refers to a lack of “hope” felt by much of the student body. We ask everyone to take a second to look around them. We are currently at one of the finest schools in the country, if not the world, surrounded some of the best facilities and teachers available at the high school level. Recognizing that Andover is an extremely stressful and demanding environment, we all should remember that we chose to come here. Students decide to apply here to receive an unparalleled education and to take advantage of the vast opportunities available at this school. Every year, around 1500 prospective applicants are denied admission, and nearly every one of them would love to be in our shoes. Although he may not have meant to use the word “toy” in such a manner, Edmonds’ article brings to light a prevailing attitude among much of the student body. Thousands of students have graduated from Andover before us, and many fondly look back on their time at Andover as some of the best years of their young lives. We need to constantly remind ourselves of how privileged we are to be here; the “universal feeling of pressure and anxiety” is just a part of life. The fact that we were accepted to this school means that we are deemed capable to handle the academic workload. We understand that everyone is stressed and anxious. No matter what grade you are in, there are always legitimate reasons to feel overwhelmed. Finding ways to cope with the stress and competition is a part of an Andover education. This article also raises the tendency of Phillips Academy students to blame the school for their problems, without either analyzing the reasons or trying to find solutions themselves. Although we students do not necessarily always see eye to eye with many of the administration’s policies, the fact is, we all signed an agreement to follow the rules of the school. Reasonable or unreasonable, students must abide by these rules, or present logical and rational reasons for why they should be changed. Ultimately, the conclusion of Edmonds’ article indicates that he has learned to not take Andover for granted. We do not intend to make any personal judgments or attacks against anyone. Rather we are trying to bring up trends in the student body that his article addresses. We applaud Edmonds’ initiative and hope that everyone can discover something that makes the stress and pressures of Andover easier to deal with. – Chris Caulkins ’11, Ryan Marcelo ’10 and Aditya Mithal ’10
