If the start of the school year is a timid step into the life of the school community—most likely one taken in a cowboy boot, as is fitting for the Open of School Square Dance—then the end of the year, marked by the Assist Scholar Chapel, is a quiet declaration of belonging.

Gone are the raucous strains of “Cotton Eyed Joe” emanating from the Front Lawn in August, new students feeling a sense of uncertainty before being swept up in the spinning heart of St. Andrew’s joy. In its place, a quiet, swaying circle in May. Interlocked arms,  gentle singing to “Rivers and Roads,” and the final Chapel service of the year, held outdoors in the golden-hour light.

And who better to offer a closing testament to the year than our ASSIST Scholar, Lars Parge ’27?

Parge, who arrived for his ASSIST one-year exchange from Germany, was a standout athlete in SAS soccer, basketball, and crew—notably, he made second boat, impressive for someone who’d never picked up an oar before. His teachers describe him as a leader in classroom discussion, an eager scholar of American history, and a quick study when it came to the American style of learning.

If you were to ask Parge, though, he’d shrug and say, “I’m just an average German kid.”

“I went to a public school, played basketball all the time, and hung out with my friends—living an ordinary, average life,” Parge said in his address to fellow Saints on the last evening of the academic year. “I never thought I would live in America, but I asked my mom: ‘Can I do an exchange year?’ I didn’t think about how, where, what, when, or even why … I just thought America was cool, and I wanted to play basketball there. But basketball ended up being the least important part of a year that changed my life.”

Upon arrival last August, there was, of course, culture shock to navigate. Parge went from living in a big city to living “somewhere in the cornfields of Delaware, 6,400 kilometers—or, for you all, 4,000 miles—away from home.”

He missed German breakfast bread and was befuddled by yellow school busses. Speaking English exclusively was a struggle. The staggering options in a U.S. super market almost sent him into a stupor.

“Everything was so new and different,” he said. “Still what surprised me most was sitting in class, at a round table, with eight to 10 other kids. Coming from my public school, with 30 kids in each class, I was used to just listening to my teacher, taking notes, and preparing for the exam. Here, I was sitting at a round table, every day facing the challenge to discuss and express my opinion in every class”—a challenge he readily embraced.

He reflected fondly on his year—the friends, the moments, the lunch table conversations, the work to digest Nuclear Physics, roommate life, FroLo bliss, the brotherhood of the soccer team, his study room (much to the laughter of his fellow study buddies), and more. He also thanked Phin Dunne ’27 and his parents, Tom and Molly Dunne, who hosted Parge in Boston on school breaks. “You all welcomed me with open arms, and every break was awesome,” he said. “Thank you for giving me another home.”

“Tomorrow I'm going to be on a plane back to Germany,” he continued. “And just like  the flight that brought me here, I will be sitting there, AirPods in, with me, my thoughts, and my luggage. But this time, I’ll carry thousands of unforgettable memories. It feels weird—I’m going home, but I feel like I’m leaving home.”

He ended with gratitude. “Thank you for giving me a place that I can look back on as one of the most amazing times of my life,” he said. “Thank you to everyone that accompanied me on this incredible, life-changing journey. Thank you ASSIST, my family, and my St. Andrew´s family. If someone would have told me a year ago that I would be standing here on the Front Lawn, giving a speech after spending nine unforgettable months in America, I would have probably just shaken my head and said, ‘Me? Nah. I'm just living an average German life.’”

After the talk, a final prayer was offered, and the sun slowly set on another year at St. Andrew’s, the pinkened sky over the pond a stunning backdrop to a moving rendition of “Rivers and Roads.”

Parge, pulled tightly into the center of things, sang along with a group of Saints he’ll never forget, and who will never forget him:  

Rivers and Roads

Rivers and Roads

Rivers ‘til I reach you.