Andrew Kauffman DS '10
Please describe the culture of Doane Stuart when you attended.
The atmosphere and culture of the Doane Stuart School has always been and will always continue to be one that fosters independence, academic excellence and creativity. Throughout my time at Doane Stuart, I developed and pursued my hobby, professional DJing, which ultimately led to my interest and post-college graduate career in marketing. Through Doane Stuart’s culture of encouragement and support, my hobbies quickly transformed into a passion and ultimately a profitable business/career.
Where do you live?
I currently live in downtown Troy, New York.
Was there a teacher or mentor that particularly inspired you?
There were many teachers and mentors that inspired me (Patty & Seamus Hodgkinson, Lisa Brown, Michael Green and Drew Levy – to name a few). However, if I had to select two in particular (which is almost impossible) two notable mentors include Darlene (Condon) Gallagher and Dr. Richard Enemark. Their mentorship and continuous encouragement served as inspiration. Being selected as a 40 Under Forty Future Business Leader is a prestigious honor for any high school student. I had the honor of being nominated by these mentors and can honestly say it was the motivating factor to help push me through my continued success as I began my journey into professionalism.
What is one of your fondest memories of Doane Stuart?
There’s one memory in particular that stands out… the Blue-Green competitions, particularly one annual event…Loup! – the ultimate hide-and-seek game. I remember one evening in particular, at the old Kenwood campus. I was on blue team, and we were hiding somewhere on the nature trail. Somehow the Green team found us.
Now, my memory is foggy but I believe that the way Loup worked is that in order to win, the hiding team or seeking team must return to ‘home-base’ and ring a traditional bell. If the hiding team returns first, unseen by the seekers, the hiding team is awarded points. If the seeking team finds the hiding team, and then makes it back to home-base, the seeking team is awarded points. However, if the seekers find the hiding team, but the hiding team returns to home-base first, the hiding team is still deemed winner. Anyways, we (the hiding team) were caught! Yet, we still managed to return to home-base and to ring the traditional bell, winning the game! Our victory led to us winning the Blue-Green trophy that year!
How has Doane Stuart prepared you as an adult? As a professional?
Doane Stuart, including its culture, excellent staff and faculty have absolutely prepared me as both a young adult and professional.
If you could travel anywhere, where would it be and why?
In my junior year at Union College, I had the opportunity to travel to India on a mini-term abroad. For three weeks I traveled with fellow students from Delhi, to Mumbai, touring through Agra, Haridwar, Jaipur, Bagru and Goa. This term abroad experience was a total culture shock! India was absolutely amazing, and if I could travel anywhere, I would love to travel back to that region of Asia. I would further explore Northern and Southern India, as well as travel from India through Thailand and Cambodia.