Dagny, Upper
“What’s so great about Andover is that even when you’re doing work, it’s still fun because you're doing it with all your friends.”Dagny is an upper from La Grange, IL who arrived at Andover as a new lower. She’s found her place at Andover on the volleyball court and in the dorm, and has enjoyed both the academic structure and social freedom boarding school offers. What ultimately sold Dagny on Andover is the people: “The Andover community is so welcoming and inclusive, which I think is so rare and so great. Everyone is genuinely friendly.”
7:40 a.m. | Wake Up
Dagny gets up and ready for the day at her dorm, then walks to Paresky Commons with her friends by eight o’clock. After her favorite breakfast a bowl of pineapple and waffles, she’s ready to go to her first class.
Period 1 | 8:30 - 9:10 a.m.
History 300: The United States // Instructor: Matthew Hession
For Uppers and Seniors. To understand the present, one must study the past. In this three-term course, students will examine the history of the United States from the 15th and 16th centuries to the early 21st century. Within this temporal span, students will engage with a diverse range of historical voices and experiences in order to unpack the longstanding tensions, debates, and inequities informing this country’s history, society, and institutions, as well as to understand how different people and groups have challenged those inequities. Through this course, students will focus on improving those skills essential to the discipline of history: critical thinking and writing, research, and informed and engaged discussion.
Period 2 | 9:20 - 10 a.m.
Spanish 300: Third-Level Spanish // Instructor: Katherine Matheson
At the end of the year, students are expected to attain a high-intermediate level of proficiency, as described by the ACTFL scale. All the grammar notions and communicative functions presented are closely intertwined with the content, which focuses on a different subject each term. Throughout the year, students read authentic texts from a variety of genres: poetry, songs, short stories, short plays, newspaper opinion articles, reports, cartoons, essays, and interviews.
The Andover community is so welcoming and inclusive, which I think is so rare and so great. Everyone is genuinely friendly.
”Conference Period | 10:05 - 10:45 a.m.
Conference period is built into every student’s schedule as an opportunity to meet with instructors and receive additional help on assignments and projects. Dagny typically spends this block meeting with her physics, history, or photography teachers.
Period 3 | 10:50 - 11:30 a.m.
Art 310: Digital Photography I: Appreciating Light, Color, and Time // Instructor: Hector Membreno-Canales
In this introductory digital photography course, students examine the concept of beauty in the environment and how an audience may appreciate the poetic and contemplative experience of a photograph. Small projects each week enable students to exercise a number of the creative controls in good camerawork using DSLR cameras.
Period 4 & 5 | 11:40 a.m. - 1:20 p.m.
Dagny has fourth and fifth blocks free during winter term. Depending on her workload, she’ll usually head back to Paresky Commons lunch with friends at noon. Menus rotate daily at the hot servery and pizza oven while mainstays like the salad bar and deli station offer a variety of healthy options. “The poke bowls are my favorite,” she says. “But I’ve also been into Chex cereal with chocolate almond milk lately.”
After lunch Dagny hang out at the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library with friends, and gets started on her assignments.
Period 6 | 1:20 - 2 p.m.
Physics 400: College Physics II // Instructor: Tracey Golini
A continuation of PHY400A. The last two terms cover electricity, magnetism, wave motion, light, relativity, and atomic and nuclear physics. Laboratory work is an integral part of the course.
It all works out [at Andover]. Trust yourself and have faith in the process.
”Period 7 | 2:10 - 2:50 p.m.
English 300: The Stories of Literature // Instructor: Brigette Leschhorn
Literature tells the stories of people’s experiences—their dreams, their desires, their acts, their mistakes. ENG300 students read poems, plays, short stories, and novels representing diverse historical periods, locations, and identities. In their writing, students practice formal literary analysis in order to gain greater appreciation for the artistic construction of a text and its cultural resonance.
Athletics | 3 - 4:50 p.m.
Dagny currently takes Zumba for her sport requirement. Once that session is done she’ll typically go to the fitness center with friends for additional training.
During the fall, Dagny is a member of the Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team and has been named a captain for the 2022 season. Varsity teams practice once a day and typically have games on Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays.
What’s so great about Andover is that even when you’re doing work, it’s still fun because you’re doing it with all your friends, and so much of it is collaborative.
”5 - 11 p.m.
After dinner at Paresky Commons, Dagny will go back to the library to socialize with friends and complete her assignments for the day. She’ll stay there until eight or nine at night, then return to her dorm in the West Quads for final sign-in at 9:30 p.m.
Dagny loves living in the dorm with her best friends, and once everyone is back from their day on campus, the rest of the night is filled with talking, watching the latest streaming shows, and finally heading to bed.