60
PERSPECTIVE
Same, same, but different.
“Let’s make a movie,”
said Broadway actor
Rich Thieriot ’98 in
response to a moti-
vational e-mail by
1998 Form Agent
Andrew Bleiman.
The idea was simple
– a video campaign to
mobilize our form-
mates to return to SPS for our 15th reunion and
reengage with the School. Rich, Dodd Loomis ’98
(an award-winning theater director), Charlie
Smith ’98 (a financial wizard), and I (an educator)
teamed up in January as a weekend-warrior film
crew to revisit our halcyon days in Millville.
Our agenda included a boys hockey game, Open
House at the Rectory, senior hour at Tuck, Sun-
day brunch in the Upper, intervis in the dorms,
Monday morning Chapel, Mr. Chase’s creative
writing class, a tour of the new Lindsay Center
for Mathematics and Science with Dr. G, and face
time with Rector Michael Hirschfeld ’85. On the
surface, our itinerary replicated a routine from
the late-1990s, but we were intent on picking out
threads of continuity and change.
After college, I spent some time backpacking
through Southeast Asia. One of the famous say-
ings by island people in that region is, “Same,
same, but different.” Although this phrase orig-
inated to compensate for language barriers, I
actually find it quite poignant.
Hockey is still an important winter pastime and
central to the School community, although our
very own Mark Bozek ’98 is now ensconced as
head coach instead of patrolling the right wing.
Open House at the Rectory remains a hot event
and the lemon poppy seed cake lives on. Even
though Big Guy has retired, the Tuck Shop is still
a popular destination, blasting good tunes and
churning out our favorite fried foods. Today’s
students recognize Cotton Eye Joe and anything
by the Grateful Dead, but they would rather listen
to Sammy Adams and Mumford & Sons. We over-
heard some of the familiar St. Paul’s lexicon, like
“newb,” but new slang, such as “wheeling” and
“chief,” has emerged. Students remain confident
public speakers, advocating for social justice, but
they reference blogs instead of books. Mr. Wardrop
now has an amazing robotics lab in the shiny new
Lindsay Center, but ecology classes still do labs
outdoors
à
la Mr. Potter. Our teachers don’t look
like they’ve aged a day, but the passage of time is
marked by their seats in Chapel – close enough
to high five the Rector. Mr. Hirschfeld occupies a
different chair now, but he remains a grounded
educator who believes that maintaining commu-
nity is the most important part of his new role.
Based on our conversations with students, faculty,
and staff, he’s doing a stellar job.
As someone who has worked at a boarding
school for the past nine years (currently at Berk-
shire School), I had a fairly relevant perspective
heading into our filming project. In the face of
heightened college pressures to specialize and
be the best, it’s refreshing to see that St. Paul’s
ultimately places a premium on building relation-
ships. The students I met were curious, consider-
ate, and profoundly inspired by their community.
Resoundingly, they love St. Paul’s and, far beyond
the college placements and beautiful facilities,
that love is what matters.
When my husband asked me about my week-
end in Millville, I waxed poetic but in summary
answered, “Same, same, but different.” Such is
the beauty of St. Paul’s – the School ebbs and
flows appropriately with the times, but somehow
manages to maintain the most important values
we graduates cherish. St. Paul’s taught us how to
harness freedom with responsibility, and whether
we are now professional dancers, human rights
activists, lawyers, waitresses, Secretary of State,
doctors, engineers, bankers, parents, or civil serv-
ants, it taught us to follow our paths with grounded
awareness, vigor, and faith.
Dana Chapin Anselmi ’98
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