By Peter Bernardino
The summer time is supposed to be a relaxing escape from the jam-packed school year, yet Garrett McLane, a new sophomore at Lovett, had a pretty jam-packed summer, too.
Originally from New Jersey, Garrett spent most of his life in Northern Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. However, just this summer, Garrett settled into Atlanta. Why? Well, Principal McLane is Garrett’s father.
“My dad was looking for a new job somewhere, and Atlanta just seemed like the place,” Garrett told me as we were sitting in a science room looking over at the big empty space where the Rollins building will be. “You know, it [Atlanta] has a good climate, and there is just a lot of stuff around that to occupy ourselves, so my parents thought that it would be a nice place to move to.”
When the school year ended, he immediately started packing. Garrett described the whole experience as “quick.”“I left the house, and then I went to Sleepaway camp and then, boom, I came back to my new house,” he said.
According to Garett, Atlanta is quite different from Washington, D.C. “D.C. contains a ton of political buildings and national monuments,” Garrett said. “Seeing a sprawled-out city like Atlanta felt different.”
Although Atlanta was a bit overwhelming for Garrett, he was still able to enjoy some of Atlanta’s perks, such as Waffle House.
Now that he’s back at school, he’s found the adjustment a little easier because Lovett is similar to his old school.
“I went to the Potomac School,” Garrett noted. “It was a K-12 school like Lovett, so they both feel similar… They [the Potomac School and Lovett] both have great athletics.”
Speaking of athletics, Garrett is becoming heavily involved in sports at Lovett. This fall, he is competing on the water polo team, while in the winter, he will be wrestling. When Garrett first got to school, he was deeply impressed by the kids on the wrestling team. “They seem really nice,” he said. “Also, I’m just excited to get to know people better.”
Beyond athletics, Garrett has made plenty of new friends. “I went to my old school for, like, eight years, so I really had, like, a specific group of people that I was always hanging out with… Now gotta start all over again. But, I’ve already met plenty of people, which is nice.”
Another perk of Lovett for Garrett has been his classes. He finds his teachers very nice and loves the variety of subjects that Lovett offers. “My economics class is really fun!” he said.
As Garrett continues adapting to Atlanta, he feels strongly that this year will be a great school year for him and that his D.C. personality will be starting to eat more Waffle House.
