“My first year at Northwood, I was in 10th grade and my roommate had a guitar. None of my family has ever been musical, so it was kind of a joke I would make; I would take this guitar, go around the halls, and be like, ‘Hey, tell me a song and how to play it’, and they’d give me a song and I would just play. I didn’t even know what chords were then; I would strum the guitar, and everyone would laugh at it. A few months later, the guitar was there when I went to lie down on my floor, and I ended up hitting my head on the guitar and splitting my eyebrow open pretty well. So, after that, I decided, ‘You know what? Let’s try and learn guitar.’ Ever since then, I’ve been learning guitar on my own, using YouTube and whoever can help teach me. That Christmas, I also got my own guitar and kept going with it.
“I’m from Massena, NY. My dad played hockey growing up and in college, so obviously, he wanted me and my brothers to keep playing. I have four brothers, and we all play hockey. My uncle Mike Hurlbut went here a while ago. The hockey team I was on before was falling apart, and the good coach was leaving, so my parents took it upon themselves and started my application. I didn’t know anything about it. My mom asked me in the Dunkin drive-through, ‘How would you feel about going to a prep school?’ It was a dream of mine growing up, but I never thought it would come true. It was the only school I applied to, so I’m thankful I got in because it’s been a dream come true.
“I’m committed to Castleton and excited because Castleton is in Vermont, and I’ve always loved Vermont growing up. The town reminds me of Lake Placid, and it’s the only hockey team in the area there. My dad went to one of their games a couple of weeks ago, and it was packed, just like a D1 game would be. So, I’m excited about getting to meet new people. When I was talking to the coach there, he was like, ‘I really like you,’ because many players don’t come from prep schools, making the transition so much easier. It’s basically being at college already when you’re in high school, and it just makes the transition a lot easier.
“Coming to Northwood, I learned a lot about responsibility. Things like homework: I can sleep whenever I want, but I still have to get my homework done and keep myself responsible—getting up in the morning, going to a lift or workout, and then staying up late at night doing homework. I’ve also learned a lot about respect and the little things about it, like pushing your chairs in when you’re done using them. I had never thought about that before, but now I’m looking around, like, ‘I got to push some chairs in. ‘ It’s just a different culture.
“One other thing I’d say is people might think, ‘ Oh, I can’t do this’. I never thought I’d be able to play an instrument, but now I’m playing guitar at the school concerts, so my advice is don’t put anything down until you try it.”
As told to Sasha Luhur ’27. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.
