Meet the Prefects: Pat Mazza (’23)

The article below is part of a series introducing students and their families to the prefects for the 2021 Great Books High School Summer Program. To read the series in full as it is published, visit the Summer Program Blog.

A Wisconsin native and the seventh of eight siblings, Pat Mazza (’23) will be returning to the California campus later this month to serve as a prefect on the 2021 High School Program. “I love how long the Summer Program is,” he says. “Most places would only give you one week, but TAC gives you two, so that you can have a deeper experience with it, and really get to know what this great place is like.”

In his spare time, Pat loves to write — books and screenplays in particular — although he expects that this hobby is unlikely to become a profession. “Realistically, I will probably go into finance, maybe representing or accounting,” he reflects. “It would give me an opportunity to help others reach their dreams and goals as an act of service in the workplace. I love the idea of that.”

Having attended the Summer Program as a high school student and served as a prefect once before, Pat credits it with giving students time to “know the experiences and personalities” not only of their peers, but of the authors of the Great Books as well. “Put yourself in others’ shoes!” he urges students. “The authors’, to understand their meaning; your classmates’, too, to understand what they’re saying.”

Pat cannot wait until July 11 to make great memories and to meet this year’s attendees. “There’s unpanned gold in every soul,” he says, quoting Robert Downey Jr., “waiting to be found.”