Thomas Mulry '16
“Timid and scared” is how Tom Mulry ’16 described his teenage self when he first enrolled at Woodberry. “The first couple of weeks were very hard. I was shell-shocked, coming from a small town in northern Virginia.”
Though boarding school was not a foreign
concept to Tom — his mother was a Foxcroft
alumna, and he had cousins who had attended
boarding schools in the Northeast — all Tom
really knew about Woodberry was what he saw
when he was enrolled at Sports Camp when he
was eleven years old.
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“I had such a great experience at Sports
Camp,” said Tom. “I went for two years. I lived
on Dowd-Finch and had the best time living
with the other kids and looking up to the
counselors.”
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Despite his difficult transition as a new
student, Tom threw himself into the experience
and is grateful to have been in a school that
gave him room to grow. He played football
for all four years, starting on the Bengal squad
and working his way up. He recalls third-form
English classes with Brian Stephenson, which
he credits with preparing him for college. And
more than anything, he learned resiliency.
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“At Woodberry, I quickly realized that you have
to put in the work if you want to compete,” said
Tom. “I also learned that you need to be flexible
in your thinking. In particular, I remember
taking AP Chemistry where there was a huge
emphasis on problem solving. The skills and
habits I picked up in my classes there continue
to resonate today. And I always had teachers
helping me along. Guys like my advisor, Donald
Brewster, who was there for me during some
tough times in my life and made me feel like I
had an ally at school — someone I could rely
on and talk to anytime I needed to. Or Ryan
Alexander, who was both my English teacher
and football coach, going to his apartment
to watch the Super Bowl when I was a junior,
making the school feel like home.”
As big as the adjustment was coming to
Woodberry, Tom’s start in college felt equally
intimidating. However this time, he had a solid
foundation to build on. He knew what worked
and what didn’t from his time at Woodberry,
and so he faced new challenges with greater
confidence.
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“Probably the most important thing I learned
at Woodberry was that you need to take care of
your own business. No one else is going to do it
for you,” said Tom. “No matter how big the class
size, there’s never a reason to hold back from
asking a question. That mindset allowed me
to feel comfortable in any environment. Or in
cases where I was uncomfortable, to not let that
discomfort hold me back from asking anyway.
At Woodberry, where you are living away from
home, you grow up a lot in those first few years.”
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As a student who was able to enroll at
Woodberry with the help of tuition assistance,
Tom took full advantage of the opportunity he
knows doesn’t get offered to everyone.
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“Tuition assistance allowed me to go to
Woodberry, pure and simple,” said Tom. “One
thing I really appreciated was that from the
moment you walk on campus as a new boy,
everyone is treated equally. There is no special
treatment for anyone. So once you are given
the opportunity to go there, it is up to each
student to make the most of it. Once you get
there, regardless of whether you receive tuition
assistance or not, you are one of the one hundred or so new boys, and the rest is up to you.”
​
Tom certainly made the most of it, and
treasures every memory. Whether it was the fun and challenge that came with the fourth-form expedition, spending time away from school with the guys in a completely different setting, or seeing everything come full circle when he returned to Sports Camp to work as a counselor, getting the opportunity to coach the younger kids. The moment that stands out for Tom most vividly, however, is Senior Shake.
“That was an emotional moment,” he said.
“It was almost surreal. I got pretty choked up
because it hits you all at once that the four years that you spent here, while there were certainly some tough moments, I can’t imagine not having them.”
After graduating from Drexel University with a
degree in engineering, Tom is now working for an ion exchange company in Philadelphia, with a focus on nuclear power plants and arsenic removal from groundwater. At a growing company, one thing he appreciates is that despite his young age, he is encouraged to speak up and share his opinion — something helearned well during his years at Woodberry.