Senior of the Year: Andrew Yuan

By FORREST ZENG ‘26

“I sometimes call myself a three-year senior,” senior Andrew Yuan told me, sitting at a round table on the ground floor of the library. He laughed when I asked why.

“Well, I spent the first two terms of my prep year off-campus doing online classes,” he said. “And now, I’m leaving for Washington.” When I interviewed Yuan in the winter, he was only a few weeks away from starting his Congressional internship in Washington D.C. 

“I’m really honored to have the freedom I have today,” he continued. “My family certainly would not have had this opportunity back in the day” He smiled at the ground, his hands draped over his lap. 

“And that’s shaped me,” he said. Indeed, what sets Yuan apart from his peers is the profound influence his tense familial history has had on his passions. 

A four-year senior hailing from Shanghai and New York, Yuan is a former Student Council Policy Committee co-head, a managing editor of Exeter’s science journal, Matter magazine, and helped to spearhead Exeter Rescue Team/Liberty North Korea, a club dedicated to raising awareness for North Korean refugees. He has attended prestigious writing camps such as the Iowa Young Writers Studio, Adroit Summer Mentorship Program, and the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshops at Kenyon. Yuan’s historical research and creative writing found its way into The Concord Review and earned him two national gold medals in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards, among other competitions. He is a head tutor at the learning center, and is currently in Washington D.C. in the Washington Intern Program.

“I wasn’t raised to be a humanities student,” Yuan told me. “My interest in the humanities came from my family’s history.” 

Politics and history mean a lot to Yuan, not only academically, but also on a personal level. Originally hailing from Maine and now living in New York, Yuan’s passions had been fostered by his first-generation immigrant family’s history.“My paternal grandma fled Tibet during the 1959 Tibetan Uprising where communist soldiers burned down her entire village, and my maternal great-grandfather was in the Kuomintang during the Chinese Civil War,” he described. “My family has had a very complicated and painful history with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so it has shaped my political opinions and interest in foreign affairs.” 

Yuan’s decision to come to Exeter was also influenced by domestic politics in China. “After Xi Jinping amended the Chinese constitution to remove Chairman term limits, my parents were concerned about the political environment in China,” Yuan said. “It was the right time to return to the States so we decided to seek out boarding schools in America for me, and Exeter stuck out for its intellectual rigor.”

“Andrew’s deep investment in thinking about social change from a systems-perspective makes me very confident that his contributions to the world, both personal and professional, will be invaluable,” Yuan’s adviser Kevin Pajaro-Marinez said. “I would not be surprised to see him pursue something around law or politics given his track record of advocacy in multiple contexts.”

“What I most admire about Andrew is his unwavering commitment to his morals and principles, along with his hard work and dedication,” alumna Angela Zhang said. “When Andrew really cares about something, he goes far and beyond in his endeavors to make his goals become reality.” 

Yuan’s involvement with human rights developed right alongside his interest in politics. His interest in advocacy and human rights grew from his childhood and familial history.

“When I was in Shanghai, there was a certain extent to which I could have freedom of speech,” Yuan narrated. “I couldn’t do anything in China to protest against Chinese human rights abuses. I would’ve gotten in so much trouble for that.” Indeed, for Yuan, Exeter represents the direct antithesis to the environment he grew up in. From politics to creative writing, Yuan has passionately filled those gaps at Exeter. 

“When I look back at my family’s history with human rights, I want to do something. I couldn’t protest against Chinese human rights, so I decided to do something similar with North Korea.” Yuan said. “I became very interested in North Korean human rights. As a cohead of Liberty in North Korea, we fundraised in my prep year and brought assembly speakers to raise awareness.”

Yuan’s experience has sharpened his critique of Exeter’s political “bubble.” He noted, “I think Exeter students are very disassociated from human rights abuses and poverty. When I look at my history and what’s going on around the nation, I was trying to raise more awareness for issues that are very vital to Americans, but have been neglected by the ‘Exeter bubble.’”

Inspired by a research study by Exeter alumna Carissa Chen at Harvard University, he joined the Committee to Study Slavery & Its Legacy at Exeter as a rising upper. “I researched from 1790 to 1840 and tried to restore the lives of slaves who were connected to the Academy. This included the slaves of the Phillips and the Gilman family,” Yuan described his 100-page senior research and field course report on Exeter’s legacy of slavery. “It’s a topic worth retrospecting.” 

“Exeter welcomes youth from all corners of the world. But the first international youths that we welcomed were the children of West Indies plantation owners who donated to the school,” Yuan said, tying the committee’s work to Exeter’s anti-racist initiatives. “It’s a part of school history that has been ignored for such a long time, and it’s critical in going forward with our school initiatives.” Yuan was also a co-head of Student Council’s JEDI Committee and eventually Policy Committee, advocating for DEI reform on campus. 

Yuan’s confidence and creative writing has captured the attention of his peers and teachers. Instructor in English Matthew Miller said, “He has passion for words and language, and loves to share what he knows out of a genuine desire to share and not to lord it over anyone.” 

“Andrew is a beautiful writer and his mastery of the English language is truly so artful,” A. Zhang said. 

Yet underneath Yuan’s confidence and expression also lies the roots of his childhood. Growing up in an environment that suppressed his freedom of expression, Yuan’s sought journaling as a form of self-expression. 

Eventually, at Exeter, creative writing became an outlet for self-expression.“The political environment I grew up in, my family’s history, and my personal interest, all aligned,” Yuan said. “I had difficulty in terms of opening up about myself when writing, but that changed a lot over Exeter and my own self-discovery.”

“I think his personality has definitely developed,” senior Valentina Zhang said. “He is much more confident in himself now, and he’s less afraid to pursue the things he wants.”

“As a lower, he seemed nervous and less confident in his own voice,” Miller described. “Now he seems to trust himself to say what he wants.” 

It comes with no surprise that Yuan’s rooted passion for creative writing earned him two national medals in the 2023 Scholastic Arts and Writing Competition for his compositions “to paraphrase immigration” and “white skin.”

Yuan is on the path receive a Classics Diploma in Latin Concentration at Exeter, having taken both Latin and Greek courses. He draws great inspiration and beauty from the classics, especially in his thinking and writing. 

“A controversial opinion I have is that people should take classics,” Yuan said. “I think it’s an underappreciated subject. Obviously, the classics curriculum sometimes frustrates students, but I think I can speak for the collective experience that there’s a joy in learning.”

“We experimented with reading Latin poetry from left to right as the Romans would have done, and Andrew was inspired by how the sound quality and the rhythm of the Latin enhanced the message,” Instructor in the Classics Sally Morris said. “His joy in that discovery invigorated the class to consider the dexterity of Latin in a new way.”

“The classics is a way to look into the past for a time of stability and wisdom when our world is in so much chaos and insecurity,” Yuan described. “There’s a lot of wisdom distilled in classic writing that’s been so neglected by modern political discourse.”

“Classics is a way to look into the past for a time of stability and wisdom when our world is in so much chaos and insecurity,” Yuan described. “There’s a lot of wisdom distilled in classic writing that’s been so neglected by modern political discourse.”

Although Yuan has shifted his focus from STEM to the humanities, he is still deeply interested in science and mathematics. “I was hesitating for the first three years of my Exeter career whether I should go for STEM or humanities,” he said. As a lowerclassman, he interned in a Yale University Chemistry Lab and took high-level STEM classes, including the 31x math sequence and the Accelerated Chemistry course, colloquially known by students as “death chem.” He continued pursuing these interests in his upper year by taking MAT790 and the genetics sequence. 

Yuan bridged this gap through MATTER magazine, where he is a Managing Editor. “I was always interested in journalism and also in STEM,” Yuan explained. “And so it came natural for me to join a publication that was dedicated towards scientific journalism.” As a member of the magazine, Yuan interviewed impactful scientists and Exeter alumni, discussing STEM education and scientific research. 

“I spoke to Exeter alumni who became scientists, such as Sarah Milkovich, who was an engineer on the Mars Rover team,” he said. “That was primarily why I joined MATTER in the first place, because it gave me a platform to talk to professional scientists.”

Yuan’s passion is served well by strong critical thinking, sharp intelligence, and a powerful work ethic. “My first impression of him was that he is really smart,” alumnus David Chen said. “He was a hard worker and put out high quality work, which I really respected. He is a very good critical thinker and he analyzes problems in a very methodical way.”

V. Zhang agreed. “He’s incredibly smart and incredibly hardworking,” she said. “We were in the same Latin class on Zoom, and I was impressed with how quickly he could grasp difficult concepts.”

Pajaro-Marinez praised Yuan’s intelligence and drive. “My honest first impression of Andrew was ‘wow, this kid is incredibly smart!’” he said. “And he has time to give his energy in service of all these people and causes outside of the classroom? What a cool student!”

“I would say Andrew is a very hardworking person,” senior Debbie Ang said. “He really devotes his time and effort into anything that he’s really passionate about.”

It can be easy on first impression to mistake Yuan as a very stern person. However, a sensitive wit and astute integrity undergird his true personality. “Andrew puts everyone at east and can carefully find humor in even the most serious situations,” Instructor in Science Michael McLaughlin said. “He is wise beyond his years.” 

“Maybe at times, Andrew can seem very serious,” Chen described. “He’s not serious all the time, though. He’s a really fun person.”

V. Zhang echoed a similar sentiment. “I wish more people knew how approachable he is,” she said. “He has bright personality that can be intimidating at times, but he’s actually very approachable and relatable as a person.”

Pajaro-Marinez said, “Andrew’s capacity to offer his energy in service of others is undoubtedly non sibi in practice. One of my fondest memories of Andrew was when he gave me a portrait of a Panda climbing a tree that I proudly put on display in my office. I was immensely grateful for the thoughtfulness of the gift and how intentional it felt!” 

“I appreciate Andrew’s honesty in many situations, as well as the humor he brings to any class or setting,” Ang said.

At the moment, Yuan has his eyes set on going into politics as a self-described national security and deficit hawk. “My dream is to be a Representative in Congress one day, and chair the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology or Foreign Affairs,” he said. “In a few years, though, if we’re at a more peaceful time, my interest might pivot a lot more into STEM. But right now, the political environment of the world, my familial history, and my personal interest have really aligned for me to be interested in the humanities.”

“My one message for Andrew is to keep showing up as genuinely as he has been,” Pajaro-Marinez told me. “I hope in the academic, professional, and social spaces he will be after his time at the Academy ends, Andrew never feels the need to compromise who he is or his values around wanting to do good by others.”

When I asked Yuan to summarize his Exeter experience, he responded plainly. “I’d say I had a good run at Exeter and I’m grateful, despite the ups and downs,” he said. For his peers and future generations of Exonians, he emphasized the need for forgiveness and compassion at a time of intense political tensions across educational institutions’ campuses.

“We’re all just fundamentally people at the end of the day,” Yuan concluded. “We’re trying to figure out stuff. So be forgiving.”