Mark Judge (writer)

"Prep is a school steeped in history, family, friendship, and tradition. Many of the hundred boys in my class had gone to parochial school together. Our parents had gone to Gonzaga, Georgetown Visitation, and the other Catholic schools in the area. Many of our older brothers had also gone to Prep. Many of our older brothers had also gone to Prep. Ill never forget when I was in the eighth grade and had an interview as part of my application. I sat down with my parents in front of a teacher I had never met before. "Youre a little taller than your brothers," he said after shaking my hand. "But I bet youre not as good an actor as your brother." This kind of atmosphere led to a sense of being part of a group that knew you better than you knew yourself. There was also the advantage of Prep being an all-boys school. At a critical time in our lives we were allowed to study, make friends, and get to know girls as friends due, paradoxically, to the fact that we were not distracted by girls. At age fifteen it was hard to think of anything else. And had there been girls on campus, Prep would not have been the place it was."