What is it really like to be a new student at Thacher? To give you a better idea, we talked to a bunch of our freshmen and asked them to share their experiences. In the process, we discovered that there are some fairly predictable stages and themes. Some of them, like the sheer excitement of anticipation, take place beyond Thacher’s gates, but most of them are the result of a thoughtfully coordinated set of traditions and programs that, in our experience, make for an exciting, often challenging, but ultimately very rewarding transition to life at Thacher.

 

But why take our word for it? Below, you’ll find the main elements of the Thacher freshman adventure explained along with some video clips of students filmed at the end of their freshman year sharing their own experiences.

New students and their families are in good hands when they arrive on campus in September. Senior students—leaders in our community and the real Thacher experts—serve as first-day guides, introducing our newest Toads to the teachers, riding instructors, and academic advisors who will shape their experiences here at Casa de Piedra.

 

The first day is also move-in day. Students make their dorm room their own. New classmates make first impressions as they navigate the busy dorm hallways or stop for a rest in the common area. At the barns, freshmen stock up on riding gear, arms piled high with boots, hats, helmets, and tack. On the Upper Field, overlooking the Ojai Valley, the annual All-School Games bring the entire student body together for goofy games and bonding in the early evening.

Horse hooves on dirt paths, whinnies and sighs on hot afternoons at the barns, the clink of spurs and boots on pavement—these have been part of the Thacher soundscape since the earliest days. Today our herd of 130 horses is a source of inspiration, fostering responsibility, leadership, persistence, selflessness, and adventure. The Horse Program can also be a source of anxiety for soon-to-be-Toads; most have little to no experience with horses before they arrive on campus. Rewind a week to the first day at Thacher and we’ll find students taking a brief riding “test.” It’s part of how our Horse Faculty pair students with just the right horse and place them in a riding group with similarly-skilled classmates. Led by one of our talented horse instructors, students will ride with the same small group throughout the fall trimester. By the time spring rolls around, new riders have become naturals, taking off on their own trail rides and training for barrel races and the silver-dollar pickup in preparation for Big Gymkhana.

 

The freshman riders will also be up at the barns feeding in the mornings and evenings; mucking their horses’ stalls before class every day; keeping each horse clean and healthy; and maintaining the quality of their tack all year. Oh, and they’ll probably come to consider their horse a trusty companion on adventures near and far.

“Every minute I am pretty busy, but I love it.”

Senior prefects and dorm faculty are the backbone of dorm life. They’re the leaders, the rule enforcers, the role models, the confidantes, the counselors, and the friends who are invested every day in the well-being of their charges. Students might find themselves recapping their day one-on-one with a prefect before lights out; snacking and goofing off at “munch outs” hosted in a prefect’s dorm room (another Thacher tradition); enjoying a home-cooked meal at an advisor’s house; or discussing an interesting project they’re working on with the faculty member who is on duty during Study Hall one evening.

Who will decide who you are? Where do you want to go? And how do you want to get there?

 

These are the tough questions that demand our students’ attention throughout their years in the Thacher community. The journey will engage and challenge them, offer opportunities for real success and profound growth, and take them to places they never imagined. And they won’t be alone.

Ultimately, there’s something every student, no matter the path they choose to take while they’re here, can expect from their freshmen year at Thacher: personal transformation. They’ll accomplish things they could never have imagined, discover new passions and talents, and overcome hurdles that would have seemed insurmountable just months before. And they’ll be considering wider social concerns, thoughtfully navigating how they respond to opportunities created by technology, sustainability, inclusion, and equality through the lens of the 21st century. Let’s call it the “Thacher effect.”