Page 16 - Priorities #61 2015-April/May

16 W When Andy Schilling first stepped foot onto the Priory campus as a high school freshman 40 years ago, he assumed that his relationship with the school would last four years. But, he was in for a surprise. In the years that followed high school, as Andy attended college and then pursued a career in investment management, he also went on to become an active Priory alumni, a trustee, and, most recently, a Priory parent (three times over). In fact, his relationship with Priory has been one of the most defining relationships of his life. And it all
started on a bucolic Woodside campus in the fall of 1974.
“Back then it was a very
different place than it is now,”
says Andy, speaking from the
office in his investment company
in downtown San Francisco.
At the time, the school, he says,
held only 120 students, most of
the teachers were monks, and
all of the students were male—
and had to wear ties. The vibe
was also much stricter, which
encouraged the students of the
1970s anti-establishment era
to rebel. “The students were
often noncompliant,” Andy
remembers, with a laugh. “There was a tussle back and forth between faculty and students. My class was a little rough on our teachers—always pushing the edges.”
But, at its heart, Andy says, Priory really was the same school it is today. The academics were top notch, the staff was thoughtful and caring, and the teachers were always looking for ways to help each student develop his own personal talents and capitalize best on his interests. The education Andy received at Priory certainly helped set the course for the rest of his life.
Even as a kid, Andy, who grew up in Atherton, was a budding entrepreneur, always looking for a way to fill a need in the community with a service he could provide. He didn’t especially need the money—his family gave him an
allowance—but he loved the idea of creating something of value for the people around him. The financial proceeds that came from his efforts also helped him to gain greater independence, a true gift for any independence-minded teenager. “I did gardening services, babysitting, cat sitting,” he remembers. “I was a one-man concierge to the neighborhood.”
So, when he decided he wanted to start up a car washing and detailing business out of his parents’ garage, he asked Father Martin for some advice. Father Martin (who decades later went on to teach all three of Andy’s daughters), taught Andy how to create fliers through screen printing, and how to properly market his new business. The Priory monks also helped Andy and his friends start an auto club, giving the teen boys money and garage space to
buy and fix up an old BMW.
In Andy’s senior year, when it came time to create the yearbook, the Priory monks realized the school was low on funds and couldn’t allocate much to the task. So they sought
Andy’s help.
“Headmaster Father Jude came to me and said they
didn’t have a budget for the yearbook that year,” Andy recalls. “He had gone on field trips with me and knew that I always logged in the gas that I put in the car, and calculated the miles per gallon. Knowing I was responsible with money, he asked if I would be yearbook editor. They were not going to provide any financial assistance, so its production would rely on my having to sell ads.” Andy took the position and made the yearbook happen.
Before Andy was even 18, he’d run a few successful businesses, learned how to raise money, and gained skills in marketing and promotion. After he graduated Priory, he did a double major at Bowdoin College, studying
“There was a tussle back and forth between faculty and students. My class was a little rough on our teachers— always pushing the edges.”