Meet the Summer Prefects: Ricardo Madan (’24)

We continue to meet the prefects for the upcoming Summer Program in California! Today’s prefect is sophomore Ricardo Madan. 

Ricardo hails from Oakton, Virginia, a quiet satellite at the edge of the Washington, D.C., gravity well. Unlike some of his fellow prefects, Ricardo did not grow up breathing the TAC air; it was his parents who first caught the scent. “My cousin came 25 years ago,” Ricardo explains, “so my family knew about it.” The Madans did their research, and the more they learned about the College’s curriculum and approach to Catholic education, the easier it became to see Ricardo flourishing at TAC. “They know I’m a very curious person, and they really wanted me to go.”

Ricardo, however, did not immediately share their enthusiasm. “I had heard about the school, but I didn’t really know if it was for me,” he says. Refusing to pressure him into a final decision, Ricardo’s parents encouraged him to at least attend the Summer Program in 2019. “In the end they convinced me, and I decided to come,” he says.

He’s glad he did. “It was two of the most impactful weeks of my life!” Ricardo insists with a laugh. The Discussion Method in particular intrigued him. “I remember going into my first class and not knowing what would happen, because I’d never been in a discussion class before.”

Although the method can be daunting, TAC students can all recall that moment when a sudden insight into the text strikes them. They hesitantly present it to their fellows, only to discover that their contribution spells the difference between understanding and confusion! There’s nothing like it. “I came out with so many more questions, and just excited to go to the next class, and then to spend the rest of the day talking to my classmates about what we’d just read,” Ricardo recalls.

Needless to say, when he returned to Virginia, and the time came to decide on college, Ricardo needed no persuasion from his parents: He had breathed the TAC air for himself, and knew it for the scent of his future.

Given the influence of the Summer Program on his own decision to come to TAC, Ricardo is thrilled to be serving as a prefect for the 2022 program in California. “I’m really looking forward to becoming friends with the attendees, because many of them will be students with me in the future,” he says. And what better way to build friendship than facilitate an encounter with the search for truth?

Sports never hurt, either, and Ricardo is an avid sportsman. “I’m huge into Spikeball, ping-pong, soccer, volleyball,” he says with an excited glint in his eye. “I take it all very seriously!” He’s especially looking forward to testing his mettle on the soccer field for the prefects vs. students soccer game.

As a sophomore, the future beyond TAC remains somewhat distant on the horizon. “I’ve thought about law school,” he says, “or going into finance, which is what my dad does.” There’s also the ever-present attraction of travel — and in fact, Ricardo will be spending some time in Spain as soon as this summer! Of course, the highlight of his summer will be the Summer Program itself, and he — like everyone — waits with excitement for those special two weeks to arrive.