This past weekend, Proctor hosted its annual Alumni Reunion weekend as alumni from around the globe returned to campus to reconnect with their Proctor experience. For many of our older alumni, including the remarkable 22 members of the Class of 1967 who returned for their 50th reunion, campus looks much different than it did during their time on campus. Not only have Proctor’s physical footprint and programs evolved considerably since 1957, but so has enrollment from roughly 100 students (all boys) in 1957 to 370 students (boys and girls) from around the globe today.

I used to walk down the halls of my large public high school and hide.  I was terrified of having a discussion with a teacher or administrator.  I had always been a fairly shy person, but school had exacerbated this trait to a new level.  As I got older, it began to influence my performance in school.  I did not allow myself to have conversations about assignments, or ask questions about material covered in class.

As a lifetime resident of our little town of Andover, but still a traveler of the country and the world, I had been looking forward to every aspect of European Art Classroom since I first heard about it as a prospective Proctor student - which, as a ‘faculty brat’, has really been since I was born.

Monday morning, we hopped on the TGV high powered train, and started our adventure to Paris! We arrived at the Gare-de-Lyon train station at 12:30 and took our first steps into the City of Light and the City of Love.

Too often we fail to share gratitude for others at the time they directly impact our lives. Parents can certainly relate to this. When was the last time your child thanked you for driving them to the dentist or for buying and making dinner each night? Children and adults, alike, simply expect certain actions from others because the actions fall within that person’s job description or role. This habit of inadvertently taking others for granted is not a malicious one, but rather an unfortunate reality we all face as we rush through life.

At Proctor, we live in this wonderful bubble where intellectual curiosity is celebrated, students embrace challenging conversations alongside each other, safely travel the world on Proctor’s off-campus programs, warm meals are provided three times a day, and our biggest stress is not having enough hours in the day to learn all we want to learn. Families choose to invest in this safe, supportive, intentional learning community at Proctor, and it is without a doubt the best environment for students to learn about themselves and the world around them. 

Last week I wrote about faith, this week I shift attention to Proctor’s Eaarth Day, and interconnectedness. Mitakuye Oyasin.

Each week a new student gets to write the blog. We can write about whatever we want.  The thing is when teachers give you the freedom to write anything it is either amazing and the words come flowing onto the page, or a painstakingly slow process where you are stuck so long looking at a blank screen that you start to hallucinate or forget what words even are. So where to start?