Meet the Summer Program Prefects: Stephen Brown (’24)

While this series has thus far focused on the prefects for the California High School Program we are excited to begin profiling the prefects for the program in New England, beginning with rising sophomore Stephen Brown.

Stephen is from Huntsville, Alabama, where he lives with his seven siblings, alongside whom he was homeschooled via the Mother of Divine Grace distance-learning program, founded by TAC alumna Laura Berquist (’75). It was through MODG that he found his way to the Summer Program, which he attended in 2020 on the New England campus — in the midst of widespread pandemic lockdowns. Even so, “I absolutely loved my Summer Program!” he says with a smile. “It was a big factor in my decision to come, and I’m still great friends with some of my fellow attendees, as well as with some of the prefects.”

Reading selections from TAC’s curriculum, as well as experiencing the Discussion Method, solidified Stephen’s attraction to the Catholic liberal education available at the College, and he applied soon thereafter. Spending two weeks in Northfield inclined him heavily toward the New England campus, as did his childhood roots in the Northeast. “I grew up in South Jersey and still have a lot of family around there,” Stephen explains. The opportunity to study the Great Books in the land of his childhood was too good to pass by, and he returned to Northfield as a freshman in the fall of 2021.

Stephen is excited to be a part of the 2022 Summer Program. “I’m looking forward to reliving some of my own great experiences with the attendees,” he says. One experience he’s particularly eager to revisit is the Program’s final dance. “For the past three years, and especially since coming to TAC, I’ve picked up a great interest in dance,” Stephen says. “It’s really become my main hobby.” And when he says “dance,” he means it: Stephen enjoys ballroom dancing, swing, waltz, foxtrot — you name it!

Look out for him in the Socratic discussions and on the dance floor!