Denzel Dickson ’26
“I was just a little scared of campus. I wish I had more time to get adjusted back to Andover. If I’m being honest, I definitely feel like Andover was pretty disorganized when it came to things like the directory and BlueCard pictures. I’m not really sure whether or not it was because of the major faculty that [joined campus]. I feel like there wasn’t a lot of time to get adjusted and I’m not trying to pick up the pieces while managing my classwork. At the same time, I’m really excited for this school year, and the days have been going really good. I’ve been getting a lot of support from adults.”
Shannon Madaras-Inca ’26
“I remember last year we did all these activities as new Juniors, we had all these bonding activities which were really fun, and I wish we did them this year too. I didn’t like that we arrived the day before classes started. I didn’t have a lot of time to settle in, and I still had things I needed to unpack when classes started and I became busy. We only got our schedule a day before classes started, which was stressful, and I was trying to figure out who I had classes with. It was very disorganized, I wish there was more time to settle in.”
Daniel Mair ’24
“The Opening of School was more organized [than those in the past]. The groups that they put the new students into and the allocation of the orientation activities with the Blue Key Heads and NISO. I think it was very good as well in the way they introduced the school and essential aspects of the community and spirit that made [new students] feel very at home. It was a very exciting time, and I think there were efforts of trying to involve the parents and the students so that there’s a holistic sense of a good start to the school year for [every] family.”
Eddie Lou ’24
“This year’s Opening of School was really lively compared to my [Junior] year, obviously because I came in when Covid[-19] was hitting hard so we didn’t really have a new student orientation. I think the Opening of School gave the new students a great opportunity to familiarize themselves with the school and also with the culture. I think leadership training was a great way to bond with other student leaders and get a good understanding of how the school culture works.”
Guiliana Cardinale ’25
“Since I’m a prefect in Paul [Revere] this year, the Opening of School has been [more] meaningful than [my] past two because I’m welcoming new students, and I get to be in the role that I looked up to the past two years [embodied by] my past Prefects. I was here for a while [before school started], so I had to settle in and get comfortable, so it really changed my perspective on the Opening of School and how profound it is.”
Maddie Shin ’27
“Moving in wasn’t that bad, I had my family who helped me. I came early for preseason so there weren’t a lot of people in my dorm, so it wasn’t as crowded, but that changed quickly. Orientation activities were pretty long, but they weren’t the worst thing ever and they helped me make friends, which was pretty easy. I also met a lot of people in my dorm, and at preseason for soccer.”
Alastriona O’Donnell ’27
“Moving in was really good because my whole family helped me move in. I thought orientation was really helpful, especially the tours and getting around campus. I made friends pretty easily. My Blue Key group was really tiny, there were only four of us, so I think it would’ve been better if it were a little bigger. I think they did a great job taking us away from our families to do activities because I thought I’d be really homesick the first day, but I wasn’t because I made new friends.”
Christian Estrada ’27
“I had a good orientation group but I heard some people didn’t feel that way. It was also tough because the weather wasn’t too good. I thought it was pretty fun, and it’s good to know that there are adults around campus to help. We had a lot of good talks but sometimes it got redundant, and I just wanted to hang out with my friends and meet new people. I wish there was more class spirit stuff, and the days weren’t as stretched out.”
