<p>I got this words of advice email. Did the other clusters get them?</p>
<p>Words of Advice, from the kids who know Abbot best. </p>
<p>In less than one week, you will have arrived, unpacked, and be in the midst of orientation. Many of us are excited your journey brings you to Abbot Cluster. Ninety-seven new students to Phillips Academy will join just over 100 returning Abboters. In the spirit of one of Andover’s mottos, “The end depends upon the beginning,” here are some fun words of advice from some of our Abbot student leaders and then some comments about why Abbot truly is the best cluster of all from some of the students who spent their ninth grade year living in Abbot dorms. We can’t wait to welcome you.</p>
<p>See you soon!</p>
<p>Approach everything and everyone you meet at Andover with an open mind.</p>
<p>Find an outlet that’s right for you.</p>
<p>NEVER feel shy about introducing yourself or saying hi to someone you’ve only met once or twice.* Everyone at Andover is so friendly that it would be silly not to meet as many people as you can.</p>
<p>Don’t get intimidated! If you’re confident in the first couple weeks, you can get involved with a lot of cool stuff.</p>
<p>Getting up early and going to breakfast with some new dormmates is a great way to start friendships the first couple days.</p>
<p>Being in Abbot is amazing, because even though there’s a pretty big distance from the main part of campus, you get to establish your own community. Within a school that is so big and diverse, it’s nice to have somewhere you can go back to and feel like you’re part of a family</p>
<p>During my first days when I didn’t know anybody, I used Abbot’s close proximity to Downtown to my advantage.* Since I was not very confident going downtown by myself and I wasn’t sure where everything was, I would wait on the front steps of Double Brick or look out my window for a person or group of people that were headed downtown and I would slyly ask to join them by asking directions.* Some of the people offered to walk with me and that’s how I met a few of my friends to this day.</p>
<p>Abbot is the only place on campus where you can escape from the chaos that is Andover, it’s the only place where you can relax and take it easy. Abbot is its own community, it’s a place not too far away from the center of campus but far enough away that you can really distinguish it from other clusters. As freshman, Abbot doesn’t have any big dorms, like Rockwell or Hale, we only have a couple smaller dorms. These dorms together create our own Rockwell and Hale, our own community. People from Abbot can relate to each other in ways that people from outside the cluster wouldn’t understand. Be it the pain of trekking from Draper and Alumni to Uncommons to heading on up to Stowe house for garlic bread and a nice game of foosball. From A-house/French House basketball games to the Double Brick girls rejoicing that they are so close to Graves. Being in Abbot really allows for a unique experience at Andover, it’s something unlike any other cluster, it is really one of a kind. Abbot is my home at Andover and hopefully it will be for the next 3 years. Oh, and it’s near Dunkin’ Donuts.</p>
<p>I wrote my quote a while ago then put it aside and forgot about it until now. Well here you go: Freshman 15 is foreign to the kids in Abbot because we walk so much. So don’t worry. You’re covered. </p>
<p>6<em>Reasons why Abbot is the best cluster:
6) Abbot campus-</em>Abbot’s own field, great for many purposes…
5)*the kicking stone- stone near the chapel and main street, kicking it brings good luck</p>
<p>4) famous dorms in Abbot- America House: where “America” (America the Beautiful) was written, Carriage House: George Washington gave a speech from the balcony of this dorm, Stowe House: Harriet Beecher Stowe live here for a while</p>
<p>3) sledding hill behind chapel-<em>steepest/best sledding hill on</em>campus</p>
<p>2) downtown-<em>closest</em>cluster to downtown,*Dunkin’ Donuts or Commons for breakfast?</p>
<p>1) A-B-B chants- best cluster chants, no question, it’s simply the best</p>
<p>Far from campus, but not far from awesome. A B B </p>
<p>Many people think Abbot is way the heck in the middle of town. However, the freshman dorms in Abbot are located<em>at a middle point between town and central campus. This makes it easy to go down town on the weekends, but also get to class on time. The other perk to living in Abbot is that you are not</em>right next to any academic buildings, so you feel like you<em>are actually ‘home’ instead of</em>still at school.* -</p>