Harry, Lower

“Having a roommate has provided me with many new perspectives. It’s been great to make new friends in the dorm and build relationships.”

Harry is a new Lower from Bangkok, Thailand. He was drawn to Andover because of the friendly community and the various opportunities to push himself get more out of the high school experience. For fun Harry likes biking around campus, going out to eat in downtown Andover, and playing guitar—which he does in Phillips Academy’s Jazz Band. Here is a typical Monday schedule for Harry.



Wake Up | 6:50 a.m.

Harry usually wakes up early to get ready and grab breakfast at Paresky Commons prior to his first class, which is right across from the dining hall.

Period 1 | 8 - 8:45 a.m.

Math 330: Precalculus // Instructor: Ellen Greenberg
An introduction and exploration of functions with abstraction. Multiple representations of a function—as a table of values, as a graph, and as an algebraic rule—are a central theme. Elementary functions (polynomial functions, in particular) and their transformations, compositions, inverses, and applications are emphasized.

Period 2 | 8:55 - 9:40 a.m.

Chinese 110: First-Level Chinese // Instructor: Lixia Ma
This course is designed for those students who have had previous experience in Chinese, but who are not sufficiently prepared for the second-level course. It provides a review of the Pinyin Romanization system and the building blocks (radicals) of Chinese characters, and emphasizes tonal accuracy.

Conference Period | 9:45 - 10:15 a.m.

Unless Harry needs help from a specific teacher, he’ll head to Gelb Science Center to study prior to his physics class.

Period 3 | 10:20 - 11:05 a.m.

Physics 400: College Physics I // Instructor: Ranbell Sun
This is the first term of non-calculus physics course, covering classical mechanics in Term 1. Laboratory work is an integral part of the course. The yearlong syllabus for this course provides appropriate preparation for the College Board Subject Test in physics.

Harkness tables in Bulfinch Hall allow for robust class conversations.

Period 4 | 11:15 a.m. - 12 p.m.

English 200: Writing to Read, Reading to Write // Instructor: Nina Scott
Term 1 begins by focusing on the writing process. Students are exposed to a variety of rhetorical modes, such as narration, description, analysis, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, definition, example/illustration, process, and argument. During Term 1, classes also work deliberately on vocabulary development, clarity, grammar, mechanics, and punctuation. Term 2 focuses on reading and writing about poetry. Term 3 shifts again to reading and writing about fiction, including the novel. Students continue to write in the modes introduced in Terms 1 and 2 and focus on organizing the essay. Term 3 includes a project involving one of the texts and a research paper, class presentation, or performance.

English is my favorite class because [students] get to lead the discussion and take the conversation to different points of interest.

Harry

Period 5 | 12:10 - 12:55 p.m.

Harry eats lunch in upper right in Paresky Commons with friends during this free period. His favorite food is stir-fry even though the line can sometimes be long.

Period 6 | 1:05 - 1:50 p.m.

Art 309: Video I // Instructor: Rafael Kelman
Students will consider the broad scope of the video medium in daily life as well as its role in art, popular culture, and journalism. Students will shoot and edit their own video works throughout the term. Class time will include viewing and discussing historical film and video work as well as giving feedback on completed student projects. Projects will explore techniques and ideas around basic shooting and editing; montage; found footage; and post-production effects as well as narrative, truth, and fiction.

Period 7 | 2 - 2:45 p.m.

Another free period. While classes are done for Harry, he gets a jump on his homework in silent study hall.

Athletics | 3 - 4:50 p.m.

Harry runs with the Cross Country team. He’s looking forward to trying as many sports as he can while at Andover. Maybe basketball in winter, and baseball in the spring.

PA has 10 large performance ensembles including 3 orchestras, jazz band and 2 choruses

5 - 11 p.m.

Paresky Commons opens at 5 p.m. and Harry is usually there to meet friends right after practice. On Mondays, he rehearses with Jazz Band where he plays the guitar. After jamming some standards, he heads back to his dorm in West Quad South where he’ll finish up his academic assignments, play ping pong with his dormmates, and call his parents back in Thailand. The 11-hour time difference means as Harry is heading to bed, his parents have already started their morning in Bangkok.

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