Gus Garvey ’25 at his commencement. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.
For four years, Gus Garvey was a prominent and active figure in the Northwood community. After graduating last year, the school seems to be missing the “Gus factor.” You could always count on Gus if you wanted to talk about Northwood, life, or just hear him put down your favorite sports team. Regardless, this article will bring some insight into what Gus has been up to since he graduated last May.
“I am in my first year at the University of Toronto. I will not declare my major until next spring, but I plan on double-majoring in Economics and Political Science with a minor in International Relations,” Garvey said recently between Buffalo Bills and New York Yankees losses.
When asked about what he misses most about Northwood, Gus said, “I miss the community. While I am fortunate to have met many new people here in Toronto, the University is structured in a way that I only really get to see them at mealtimes and on weekends. In Toronto, the way it works is that within the University, you are affiliated with a college. There are seven on the downtown campus, and you spend all of orientation week exclusively with people from your college, so pretty much every friend group is within a college. But once that is over, your classes and clubs are with people from all over, and with how full our schedules are, I sometimes will not see people for days at a time. I miss how tight Northwood was, being able to experience everything surrounded by the same familiar faces,” Garvey explained.
Being the person that he is, Gus was always in the mix of every hangout, cracking jokes and making people laugh. You could always count on Gus to say something funny or controversial, adding to the tight-knit community aspect of Northwood.
Gus Garvey ’25 at his commencement. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.
As a boarding school, Northwood offers numerous features that prepare students for life after graduation. “I think the thing that helped me the most was the experience of living in a dorm. I am seeing so many kids here going through the same learning curve that I went through four years ago. Since I have already lived in a dorm for four years, I was able to hit the ground running here and lock in right away,” Garvey said.
Lastly, I asked Gus, “What is one piece of advice I would give to the Class of 2026?” He responded with “enjoy every minute you have left at Northwood. It sounds really clichéd, but it’s easy to take for granted many of the unique things that make Northwood a special place. Make every moment going forward count. If your neighbor has an empty cup at dinner and you want to stack them, go for it, and have a laugh with your table. If you see a NOC event, sign up for it. If there is a hockey or soccer game, go to it. Take that walk into town on a Saturday afternoon. Stick around in the lounge if your friends have a game on, or better yet, put one on yourself. If you need to unwind and relax, do it in the living room, so you are surrounded by the community. You have the rest of this year to make memories that will last a lifetime, and after you ring that bell in May, you will look back at them wishing you could relive it all over again,” advised Garvey.
Gus is the epitome of what it means to take full advantage of Northwood, from organizing his own LEAP to Japan to doing play-by-play announcing for the hockey program, Gus truly lived Northwood to its full potential, and his impact was profound.
Even though Gus is no longer at Northwood, he will be remembered in the years to come as someone who made the most of his Northwood experience, always with a smile on his face.
