Tricia Moriarty

Ask one of her friends to describe senior Tricia Moriarty, and they’ll tell you about her Spotify playlists. “One of the things I first loved about Tricia was her love for and good taste in music, from U2, to Wilco, to Father John Misty and far beyond,” senior Willa Canfield said. “She is truly an artist when it comes to crafting beautiful playlists; her Spotify is a masterpiece.”

Moriarty is known to the Exeter community as a responsible, genuine and social person. Since coming to the school as a new lower, many Exonians, from the preps in her dorm to classmates from her term abroad in Germany, view Moriarty as a role model on campus.

Hailing from Old Lyme, Connecticut, Moriarty’s father and aunt are both PEA alumni. Still, Moriarty didn’t consider attending Exeter until she began high school in Old Lyme. “I initially didn’t think I wanted to come here until I experienced my hometown high school, and I was like, ‘Okay, I can strive for more,’” she said.

Moriarty added that she “began to consider Exeter more and more when my sister would come home on her school breaks and talk about all of the amazing things she was a part of on campus.”

In Moriarty’s first year at Exeter, her sister, a senior at the time, was a pivotal member of her time at school. “I was very lucky to have my sister; it would have been a lot different had I not,” she said. “She was always there at the end of the day, and I could always turn to her and her friends, and they were always warm and welcoming.”

Through her sister, Moriarty met another important influence on her time at Exeter—mathematics Instructor Aviva Halani. “I was actually her older sister Maegan’s adviser, and Maegan also lived on my floor her first year as a new lower,” Halani said. “I think that meant Tricia was more comfortable with me.”

In her three years at the Academy, Moriarty has built lasting friendships with Exonians around her. “On rainy days, we’ll all pile into one of our friend’s rooms and listen to great music for an hour and do homework, which is really amazing,” Moriarty said.

Canfield commented on some of the dear memories she shares with Moriarty. “We have had so many lovely times together—swimming in the river in the spring, twirling down Swasey, Stillwells in hand, drinking tea late at night, closing D-Hall down with our friends, sleeping over together, dancing, singing, crying a lot and laughing a lot.”

“I’ve also been fortunate enough to go to concerts with some friends and know that our friendships reach off of Exeter’s campus,” Moriarty said. Senior Sophia Zu mentioned a particularly memorable Father John Misty concert that she attended with Moriarty. “We were surrounded by the water and the sunset while planes took off overhead; it was a really magical night,” Zu said.

On campus, Moriarty is a co-head of Games with Seniors, an ESSO club that travels to a nursing home every Sunday afternoon. She created lasting friendships with the seniors and mentioned that “one of them actually tailored my Abbot Casino dress last year!”

Moriarty is also interested in biology and started the Exeter Hemochromatosis Awareness Club to spread the word about the blood disorder. “I witnessed my grandfather suffer and die from it, and it’s a genetic disorder so my dad also has it,” she said. “My overall goal is to get the word out: get tested, learn about the disease.”

Moriarty is considering becoming a hematologist to further study blood and blood disorders. “The idea of working at a hospital or some sort of bustling environment has always been of interest to me. I don’t really see myself sitting at a desk all day long,” she said.

She is also currently taking and enjoying the bioethics course. “All of the readings have been interesting and the discussions have been open and non-judgemental, especially around such controversial topics,” she said.

Along with biology, Moriarty is interested in studying German in college. During senior winter, after taking German for her entire time at Exeter, Moriarty travelled abroad to Germany. She found herself fascinated with the language and with numerous other aspects of the country. “I really enjoy German culture, language and history; there’s just so much to learn within German history alone,” Moriarty said. “It is so interesting to navigate throughout it.”

Moriarty was joined by senior Meg Bolan on the trip, who became her support system in the foreign environment. “We were each other’s social support, and if one of us was having an off day, we would buy each other a loaf of bread and a cup of coffee,” Bolan said. “It’s every person’s dream to travel abroad with their best friend, and I was blessed and lucky enough to be able to do that with her.”

Despite the fun, immersive experience of the trip, Germany helped Moriarty realize how Exeter has impacted her life. “My time in Germany has helped me reflect on my time here at Exeter and how much I valued it,” Moriarty said. “It opened my eyes to see that I am really going to miss this place. Being away from all the people here made me realize all the wonderful relationships I had with students and faculty on campus.”

Moriarty has greatly impacted her friends and the Exeter community as a whole. “She’s one of the friendliest people I could imagine. She’ll just make your life better!” Halani said. “She’s a really magical person,” Bolan said, “and I’m excited to see where she goes in her life.”