TAing at Andover Summer Session

Phillips Academy Andover

Andover, also known as Phillips Academy, is a well-known and relatively prestigious independent high school located in Andover, MA. I was fortunate to graduate from Andover in 2010.

This past summer I returned to my alma matter and worked at Andover Summer Session, a summer school that is self-described as a "premier summer academic enrichment program in the country helping students from across the US and the world to achieve their educational goals." 

I'd like to share the some of the things I've learned from my experiences at Andover Summer Session.

1. Commons--the Andover dining hall--is amazing. 

The combination of Commons' high food quality, convenience, and great service is simply unmatched by any dining service I have ever had. The food--the omelette station, the fruit bar, the pizza oven, the sandwich bar, the desserts--was top notch. The Commons workers and self-serve service are friendly and quick. The ability to wake up and walk to Commons to eat high quality food is convenience at its best.

Commons sure as hell beats either (a) eating 2.5 french toast sticks off of a noticeably dirty plate at the Emory DUC after waiting in line for 15 minutes because I'm on a terrible meal plan, (b) overpaying for a Chick-fil-A sandwich or poor-quality sushi at the Emory Cox Hall Food Court, (c) rushing out the door with a bagel or pb&j as I go to class, or (d) having to spend at least a half hour prepping, cooking, and cleaning so I can make a decent of my own. 

2. Dorm Life. 

Despite the fact I lived as a student at an Andover dorm just a few years earlier, I was nevertheless pleasantly surprised at how much easier it is to manage high schoolers at Andover are than college students. Andover dorm residents obeyed rules such as dorm sign-in times and quiet hours, openly offered pizza slices to their peers, and worked together as a group doing "dorm duty," which consisted of taking out the trash, cleaning up the common rooms, etc.

The most encouraging part about dorm life at Andover was the state of the bathrooms, which were significantly cleaner than those of dorms at Emory. Granted, there aren't many 14-17 year old piss drunk residents, resulting in them puking up blood all over the bathroom floor, pissing on seats, and shitting on the ground.

But in general, yes, 14-17 olds are significantly cleaner and more respectful than their 18-20 year old counterparts.

3. Five week Relationships: 

It was rather unfortunate, especially from a teaching assistant and house counselor perspective, that we only had 5 weeks to get to know our students and faculty peers. Just when we started to get to know and become comfortable with the people we had been interacting with, the session was over and everyone was off on their own way. It would have been nice to get to know peers on a deeper level and to have a larger influence on our students. That said, it was still amazing how quickly people at Andover Summer Session were able to develop relationships in such a short time, although it might have felt more rewarding to have the opportunity to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships.


4. TA Group: 

The group of teaching assistants that I was privileged to work with was certainly the main reason my summer was so awesome. The people make the experience, and I was fortunate enough to have a group of peers that I actually sorta liked. Not that I've ever worked a real job before, but I find it hard to imagine that I'll have many jobs in the future in which I'll like my coworkers as much as I liked them this summer.

5. The Transition from Andover Student to Andover Faculty:

It was definitely an interesting experience seeing things from the other side of the spectrum. Making the switch from seeing "Mr. Jackson" as your teacher to seeing "Bill" as a peer is a bit uncomfortable and awkward. Similarly awkward is when students are told to refer to me as "Mr. Feng" as opposed to "Josh." Not my cup of tea quite yet. Of course, the most awkward is when students/staff/faculty think you're a student and ask you what you're doing printing out 50 sheets of paper and you have to explain to them "I'm a teacher here making copies..."


6. Summer Session vs. the Andover school-year:

Two very different ballgames. Summer session is more relaxed and less stressful as kids aren't directly influencing their college prospects. Thus, Summer session kids aren't as motivated. The six day weeks--five of which consist of 90 minute classes--in summer session are brutal. Summer Session had significantly more international students. There were not any forms of seriously competitive athletics. Summer faculty seem a bit more disorganized. 

7. The Lack of Organization of Teaching Classes:

As a student, you always believe that your teachers are well organized and have their shit together. Not true. I was surprised of how many lessons or assignments/assessments we planned late the night before class the next day, or the morning of classes that day. Teachers are like those procrastinating students after all! 

The lack of organization is not necessarily a bad thing, however. It was such a planned and organized chaos that it was incredible that it worked, and it was through this process that we were better able to teach freely and adapt to our students' needs. In the end, teaching was sort of like a show, as long as it looks like you have your shit together once you're on the stage the students will believe it.

And if all else fails, I've learned (humanities/social sciences) teachers always have that "get out of jail free" card in our back pocket: Show a movie--the surest way to avoid actually teaching for a class period or two!


8. Improved Bicycle Riding Skillz: 

This summer while on campus I figured out how to ride a bicycle with no hands on the handle bars. I can now confidently self-declare myself cooler than I've ever been before.


9. Lack of Asians in Teaching: 

Along with most other prestigious high schools and colleges, Andover takes pride in its diversity. One of Andover's mottoes is "youth from every quarter." While Andover students, especially its summer session student population and its representation of 50+ countries, certainly hail from every quarter of the world, the faculty was not as diverse and had a glaring lack of Asians. 

While there were a handful of Hispanic and Black faculty at Andover Summer Session, I was the one and only Asian teaching assistant (out of 35-40 TAs) and the only Eastern/Oriental Asian in the 150+ person summer session faculty as a whole. This fact is particularly disturbing given the fact that about 30% of the Andover student (and summer session) population is Asian.

Why so few Asians teaching at Andover Summer Session? Is it a result of the low numbers of interested Asian applicants? Or maybe Asians aren't as qualified in teaching positions? How representative is the lack of Asian teachers at Andover compared to the greater teacher population in America? Is it a social class thing? A cultural thing? Just some thoughts.


10. Andover Takes Care of its People: 

Whether it was the gift duffle bag consisting of goodies including a beach towel and a camelback water bottle as we checked in for the summer, the catered closing dinner that featured lobster ravioli, prime rib, jumbo cocktail shrimp, and an open bar, or the reasonable monetary compensation for taking on extra jobs such as tutoring and chaperoning field trips, it was very clear that Andover cared about and was appreciative of the people that make up its community. It's no wonder I kept finding myself returning to Andover's campus.


Closing

Overall a great experience. Definitely the best summer job I've had. I learned a lot about teaching and schools, created some memories I'll never forget, and might have even made some friends.

Thank you to everyone--students, faculty, house counselors, admins, staff, friends--who contributed to my summer at Andover, it would not have been as awesome as a summer without you all!

Sincerely,

-JTF