Scott Peek

I can still see the image perfectly in my head. Freshman year I saw two boys in suits with nametags on touring parents around campus. I had to know what they were doing. After some research, I came to find out they were both part of the Lion & Sword Society.
As a young freshman, I wasn’t worried about actually touring people around campus, but the thought of getting to add something like that to my resume seemed rather enticing. So, come sophomore year, I took a shot and decided to apply.
Throughout that year, I did lead some tours here and there, but it wasn’t until my junior year that I realized I had little to no leadership experience on my resume. Determined to make a change, I decided that junior year I would do my best to lead as many tours as possible and hopefully become a Co-President, and that’s exactly what I did. I took every opportunity that I could to take prospective parents around campus to show them what St. Mark’s has to offer.
It was that year that I really began to internalize just how fortunate I was to be here, and how much I loved the school. To see the shock and awe on peoples faces when I walked them into the Winn and as of this year, the Zierk, put things into a whole new perspective for me.
As senior year came around, it started to hit even harder. Knowing that in just a few months, my 12 years at St. Mark’s would come to an end was a hard pill to swallow. As almost everyone who has ever toured with me knows, my favorite question is “what is your favorite part about St. Mark’s”. To that, I would always respond with something along the lines of “the sense of brotherhood that is formed between us”.
While rather cliché, I truly believe that this is what makes our community so special. I’m confident when I say that there are very few schools around the country where you truly know every single person in your graduating class at such a personal level.
It’s not just that either. I’ve formed so many friendships with Marksmen who are both older and younger than me, not just from sports, but from simple daily interactions around campus. For some, the friends that are made in college turn out to be your friends for life, but for me, the brothers I’ve made at St. Mark’s like Rocco, Weston, Jake, Jackson, Beau and Duff will forever be the ones I know I can call whenever, for whatever reason and know they will answer the phone.
As commencement looms around the corner, it’s becoming more real everyday that one day I will wake up and never put on the oxford shirt, gray shorts, belt and sperry’s ever again. I can’t help but feel like as a lifer, it hits just a little bit harder for me.
For almost my entire life, all I have ever known is St. Mark’s. All of the memories I’ve made during my time have truly transformed campus into my second home, and for that, I will forever be indebted to this community.