Andrés Burbank-Crump ’07

Andrés Burbank-Crump ’07, a three-season Pike athlete, went on to Brooks School and continued his education at Williams College. After graduating, he joined SquashBusters, an urban youth development program which serves middle and high schoolers in Boston, Lawrence and soon to expand into Providence. As Middle School Squash Coordinator in Lawrence, Burbank-Crump is responsible for planning and coordinating daily practices, organizing matches and tournaments and mentoring students,

How did Pike give you a solid foundation for your other educational experiences? Pike was fundamental in establishing the importance of relationships in education, both student-to-student and student-to-teacher. Though I don’t think I fully realized it until well after I graduated, there is tremendous value in establishing a sense of community within a learning environment. Small class sizes and a focus on interpersonal collaboration were two aspects I valued when looking at high schools and colleges, and are both things I developed an appreciation for at Pike.

How did the Pike community inspire you to work with inner-city youth? At Pike I had the benefit of several teachers, coaches, and mentors who were there to listen and support me at any moment – something I felt was crucial during such formative years. Knowing how big a role these adults had in my schooling, it made me think of what I could do to help out students who do not have the benefit of these support systems. Non Sibi Solum, Pike School’s motto, has also remained with me throughout my time in high school and college. It has served as a reminder that the lessons we learn through school are tools that are intended as much to help others as they are to help ourselves.

How did your role models influence your career path? I think it was a gradual realization of just how instrumental role models are for somebody to have when they are a kid. Having a role model who you see on TV is one thing, but having an example to look up to every day and interact with is another experience entirely. I had the benefit of dozens of role models growing up and often took that fact for granted, so understanding that there was a community of kids who didn’t necessarily have this privilege so close to home was something I felt strongly about working in Lawrence.

Which skills did you gain at Pike that directly apply to the work you do today? Relationship-building is absolutely the most important aspect of my job today, and it is one of the most important skills I developed while at Pike. Having attended Pike for almost my entire childhood, much of what I learned in regards to communicating with peers and adults was developed at school. I try to emulate the empathy and patience I received from friends and mentors at Pike while working with my own students at SquashBusters.

What is the most rewarding part of your job? Most challenging? The most challenging aspect of what I do can be the lack of concrete benchmarks or milestones. A lot of our goals for students within the program are long-term and difficult to gauge on any sort of scale. It can feel like a lot of personal investment and work without the guarantee that what I’m doing is going to work for any particular student. The most rewarding aspect of working at SquashBusters is being able to spend time with and form connections with an extraordinary group of kids. There are innumerable highs and lows for these students throughout their time in middle school and at SquashBusters Lawrence, all of which help form who they will eventually become in high school, college, and beyond. I feel tremendously lucky to be able to participate in this journey with them on a daily basis, even if it’s for just a short window between sixth and eighth grades.

What inspires you to get up each morning and passionately do what you do? Regardless of what my students are going through at home or at school, they show up every day at SquashBusters committed to the program and ready to work hard for themselves and for each other. I see it as my job to match their dedication and enthusiasm and hopefully help them to reach the potential they all so clearly have. I really do believe that every student I work with is a success story waiting to happen. There are a lot of ingredients to success, but if I can be by their side and form even the smallest part of that recipe, then I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.