Alums and the ASP

By ABIDJAN WALKER
 
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"ASP (the Advanced Studies Program) changed my life," said current ASP Intern Kim Ndombe, graduate of the ASP in 2006.  Ms. Ndombe's ASP experience in the Mass Media course caused her to re-examine her interests. Before the ASP, she planned to follow the pre-law track and instead decided afterwards to double major in Television, Radio, and Film and Political Science at Syracuse University. Ms. Ndombe returned to ASP as a Writing Workshop Intern this year.

This past Saturday, July 17, alumni returned to campus to reconnect with friends and teachers, and celebrate their fantastic experience at ASP for Alumni Day. They traveled from around New Hampshire and beyond. Yet, some like Ms. Ndombe, Alicia Pacelli, and Becky Houran did not come from far.
          
Interns this summer along with Ms. Ndombe, Ms. Pacelli and Ms. Houran, also graduated from the ASP in 2006. Their program lasted only four weeks, due to a flood that damaged buildings throughout the grounds of St. Paul's School. However, they still had a wonderful time at ASP, a sentiment that is shared by many other ASP alumni.

Jeff Bereault, Conor Burke, Kevin McClure, Ali Grise, and Ali Vivinetto, all Mass Media students in 2009, remember how they often sat on the floor in class. Jay Jacobs, a 1981 ASP alum, remembers hanging out and studying in front of the old library in the shade of a tree. He also remembers when his dorm invited a girl's dorm over for a pillow fight. One of the pillows burst and one of his dorm mates covered himself with chocolate sauce so that the feathers of the pillow would stick to him.

Although the ASP is a memorable experience for many, it is not always an easy one.
      
"You're taking on a challenge when you come [to the ASP]," said Ms. Ndombe.

Many students do not realize the amount of work that is expected of them. "The bar is raised. [Students] are forced to do things in a way that they have not done before," said ASP Director Mike Ricard.

The ASP's ideal learning environment, in which students can have intellectual conversations with their peers both inside and outside the classroom, produces the best results. Mr. Bazos, former ASP Director, said that "[ASP] challenges you to reach higher in many ways. Many students [are] stunned by what they are asked to do." Writing Workshop teacher, John Bouton, said that for some students their five and a half weeks at ASP are harder than their senior year. And this is what makes ASP stand-out.

"We are different," said Mr. Kissick, the Chief Development Officer for St. Paul's School and member of the ASP Advisory Board. Mr. Kissick explained that ASP is philosophically different than other summer schools. Other private preparatory academies, such as Andover or Exeter, also have summer schools. But, their programs are over twice the cost of the ASP tuition. The ASP is offered to only a particular group of students: the best rising seniors from New Hampshire's public and parochial schools. In essence, the program was created to give back to New Hampshire.

Alums, in turn, give back to ASP, whether financially by helping to keep costs low and provide scholarships, or actively by acting as teachers, interns, house supervisors, guest speakers, or administratively, by conducting interviews. Now there are more ASP alumni than St. Paul's Winter school alumni and that will forever be the case.

"[The alumni's] enthusiasm helps the program stay as good as it is," said Mr. Ricard. There are about one hundred alumni in New Hampshire who conduct interviews for applicants. Alums also fund ninety percent of the ASP's annual fund, which "is instrumental in meeting the budget," according to Mr. Ricard.

"Without the generosity [of the Alumni] to the Annual Fund, it would be difficult to continue with the ASP," said Mr. Ricard. They want to share their special ASP experience with future students by giving of what they have. Mr. Jacobs gives five dollars for every year since he graduated from ASP. In this way, ASP alumni join together in their cause to support the ASP for life.

"You'll never leave the family," said Mr. Kissick.

An ASP alum never forgets about their connection to the program. ASP Alumni Erik Sharin, Mira Carey-Hatch, and Kye Ameden, all members of the 2009 Ecology class, remember their first day of class when one of their classmates flipped her canoe. Ms. Ndombe remembers her last night at ASP, when her interns allowed her dorm to go to the Manville common room late at night.

During one of the most important times in a teenager's life, the ASP changes lives. Mr. Jacobs said that ASP brings New Hampshire together.

"I think that there is a bond that ASP alumni have that is considerably stronger than that connected to other programs," said Mr. Ricard.

Mr. Ricard refers to ASP as a "transformative" experience. He believes that students learn a lot about themselves and what they are capable of accomplishing in and out of the classroom.

"[Students] are forced to extend themselves," said Mr. Ricard.

Despite the intensity of the program, Mr. Ricard believes that, at the end of it, students are extremely proud of what they have accomplished. As a result, alumni continue to come back every summer to reconnect with the place and the people that have meant so much to them and altered the course that their lives have taken.