ST SEBASTIAN’S

BROTHERHOOD
An Eternal Brotherhood
Academic Rigor | Spiritual Depth… and Brotherhood.
By James O’Brien ’06
Pictured: Chris Marino ’10 and Ned Kingsley ’10 at the Class of 2010
Yearbook Reception in November 2010.
As a student at St. Sebastian’s School, I spent an inordinate
amount of time with my St. Sebastian’s friends at the Dedham
Chili’s on Route 1. I made the weekly trek there from
my parents’ house in Medfield only because it was a central location
for my group of St. Sebastian’s friends, boys who lived scattered
all over suburban Massachusetts. We spent countless hours
sitting in our cars or standing outside of them in that parking lot,
recounting the school day antics, life lessons, teachers, hopes, and
dreams.
The academic merits of St. Sebastian’s have been recounted
thousands of times and will be again in the following pages. They are
numerous. But the School exists to nourish the whole person. We
truly did strive to “love God, work hard, and take good care of one
another.” And if one of us was not doing that, you could be sure the
rest of us would let him have it.
Joy is paramount at the School. St. Sebastian’s is full of people
who always seem on the verge of smiling. Everyone is receptive
to a good joke. When I was in sixth grade, I interviewed at two
independent schools, one of which was St. Sebastian’s, and by the
time I went through the admissions process at both schools, I knew
that St. Sebastian’s was the place for me. I remember how accessible
and good-natured the people here were—Headmaster Burke’s
humor and humility, my stocky tour guide constantly recounting
how he was “strongly encouraged” by Mr. Nerbonne to take Latin,
a well-spoken student telling me in a Burke-ian voice to “be sure to
catch the acorns that fall from the tree of knowledge.” Seeing the
humor in life, being able to laugh at yourself—these are qualities that
are encouraged at St. Sebastian’s.
Having now returned to St. Sebastian’s as Assistant Director of
Communications, English teacher, and coach, I see the same spirit
alive at the School today. Wherever you go on campus, smiling faces
and happy people are there to greet you.
We have this community feel that most other schools do not,
a more warm and inviting environment, a family atmosphere.
While our academics take a backseat to none in the ISL, the joy
for life exhibited by the faculty and students is what makes the
essence of St. Sebastian’s pervade all aspects of our lives. The spirit
of the School does not merely capture the spirit of academia, but
also the real meaning of a life lived joyfully. As a student, my
friends and I wanted to come to school. Unlike many of our public
school counterparts, we did not feel like we were in a holding cell,
scratching lines on the wall to mark the days until graduation. Here,
amidst all of the book learning, was life, the real essence of things.
Life can be lived in innumerable ways, but by engaging our will to
live fully, St. Sebastian’s prepared us for all of them.
Full living involves embracing all aspects of what this world
puts before us—the tragic and sorrowful as well as the light and
humorous. Like a liquid changing shape to fit its container, the
nature of the St. Sebastian’s brotherhood can shift depending on the
situation. During both ordinary and challenging times, we see the
deep and meaningful nature of so much time spent together in close
quarters with good people.
What follows are the stories of fellow Arrows who cherish their
St. Sebastian’s experience just as much as I do. We may be a little
biased, but much like little George Washington in the apocryphal
cherry tree story, we have too much integrity to lie. St. Sebastian’s
22 | ST. SEBASTIAN’S MAGAZINE Volume VIII, Issue I