Catching Up with Ande Sozzi
Contributor Nafis Muhammad catches up with Pixel Journal's founder, Ande Sozzi.
Pixel Journal: How do you view your OHS experience?
Ande Sozzi: My OHS experience was invaluable. Obviously the academics are virtually (no pun intended) unparalleled, but it allowed me to do so much outside of the classroom, all of which plays a large part in who I am. The sheer flexibility for OHS allowed me to follow so many things I was passionate about to extents that most people are never able to because of the time and location commitments of school all the way throughout college and as a working adult. OHS was a time in which I was (obviously) academically challenged, but more importantly a time in which I was able to think for myself, by myself, without anyone telling me to follow a set curriculum.
PJ: Tell us a little about yourself?
AS: I am a competitive show-jumper (horseback riding), but I also have two businesses that I am working on/with. One of which is a financial services and marketplace platform within the equestrian world, and the other is a mixture of politics and entertainment, but I am bound to secrecy on that so I won’t say much.
PJ: Looking back on time at OHS, would you change anything?
AS: I wouldn’t change anything, so much as I wish I had done more. OHS has a captive audience of very focused, erudite kids, and I think that I could have done more within that community, perhaps in the form of another student organization (other than the Pixel Journal). For a group of incredibly active minds, we don’t do much to challenge each other outside of the classroom in ways that genuinely help us grow and mature, so I wish I had done something to foster that. Ideally, that would have been an organization that allowed and encouraged the whole school to come together and actually speak to one another, debate, and think, all in a respectful, non-politicized manner. I don’t think we have enough opportunities to do that, in all levels of education (and in life in general, frankly).
PJ: How did you balance OHS workload with riding, your app, and life?
AS: As everyone knows, OHS’ academics are markedly taxing to the extent of a full-time job (under-eye circles, anyone?), and the social life is surprisingly easy to become sucked into, so it took some incredibly fastidious, color-coded organization to keep everything from crashing and burning, inside and outside the classroom. I think this was glaringly true during the fall of my senior year because I was taking 7 classes, juggling college applications, riding, and trying to start a business. As insane as it sounds, it’s fully doable if you just sit down and make lists and schedules. At any given time, I had a monthly schedule on a 3’x2’ watercolor sheet, a weekly schedule on my desk and computer/phone, and a daily/hourly schedule on the same. Sure, I stayed up until 3am for a lot of nights in a row, but it was absolutely worth it (and I got some fantastic Snapchat material from it).
PJ: What do you know now that you wish you would’ve known before graduating?
AS: I think most people would say something along the lines of “just know that everything works out how it’s supposed to, don’t stress,” but I don’t want this to be a broken record, so I guess I wish I had realized the incalculable value of open discourse a bit earlier than I did. It’s something that we take for granted (and thus frequently don’t steadily cultivate) in education, in our societies, between families and social circles, in everything, and like I said a few questions earlier, I wish I had been able to do something to actively foster it within OHS.
PJ: What is your biggest take away and what are you most grateful for about your time at OHS?
AS: Outside of academics, I’m hoping that the businesses I’m involved in take off and that I’m able to pursue my riding to the highest level. Within the academic realm, I’m just hoping to make a smooth transition to a college that challenges me inside the classroom, and affords me the same ability to work outside the classroom.
PJ: How do you plan to go forward from OHS, either into college or otherwise?
AS: Outside of academics, I’m hoping that the businesses I’m involved in take off and that I’m able to pursue my riding to the highest level. Within the academic realm, I’m just hoping to make a smooth transition to a college that challenges me inside the classroom, and affords me the same ability to work outside the classroom, as OHS did.
PJ: Can you describe your two companies and the inspiration behind those?
AS: One of my companies I am bound to secrecy on, but I am happy to speak to the equestrian financial services and marketplace platform. Essentially, it creates more transparency and adds security in managing transactions with and for patrons, vendors, trainers, and competition-management companies (and many more industry members), as well as find particular services, or any of the people I just mentioned. It also allows for greater ease of organization and communication within training programs, and has community-wide features that include crowd-funding and matching under-18 riders to sale horses (a surprisingly important part of the industry). Having practically grown up in the equestrian world, I have become acquainted with the pitfalls in nearly every facet of the industry, and I wanted to create something that allowed an industry I care very much about to, frankly, move on from the Stone Age.
PJ: What is an interesting fact about you?
AS: I could have around 10 passports!
PJ: Do you have a favorite subject?
AS: I really love politics and economics, so thank you OHS for DFRL and AP Microecon!
PJ: Do you think OHS set you up for success in your endeavors after school and, if yes, how?
AS: I truly believe OHS has set me up for success in every aspect of my life. The academics are obvious, but I think the social side of it is less obvious, so I’ll speak to that a bit. OHS has such a self-selected group of kids, so you really can’t go wrong speaking to anyone, and this is something that was invaluable to me. All young people (unless you’re a communications/socialization savant) need to learn how to effectively and enjoyably interact with people on all levels, and because everyone at OHS is such an active thinker it allows you learn how to genuinely enjoy everyone you encounter, and how to have effective conversations about god knows what. This skill of just being able to converse with anyone about anything is such an invaluable skill, and OHS taught me that in spades (ironically).
PJ: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What about 10 years?
AS: In full candidness, I haven’t a clue. If you’re 17 and genuinely know where you see yourself in five or ten years, I applaud you but I do not envy you. Of course I have a long list of goals in all the different parts of my life, and places where I would like to see myself, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I have no idea what to expect. Five years ago I would have said that I would be a biology major at Princeton after graduating from an entirely different school, living on the opposite coast of the USA. However, I wouldn’t change anything about where I am right now, so who am I to say about 5 years from now?
PJ: Has your schedule changed significantly after graduating OHS? For better or worse?
AS: My schedule has definitely changed for the better. I am able to have essentially normal working hours instead of having one class at 8am and another at 9pm, which is fantastic. I highly recommend taking a gap year to all OHS’ers. Even if you are working, it allows you to actually enjoy having a free hour (or even two) instead of stressing about the constant barrage of schoolwork during your “free” time.
PJ: Do you have any advice for underclassmen?
AS: I would advise any underclassman to follow every single thing that intrigues you (within sanity and the law, of course). Most people would say not to because you’ll “stretch yourself too thin,” or some excuse like that, but I firmly believe in this; anything that you come across that sparks your curiosity is worth your time. You will naturally weed out the things that aren’t truly of deep interest after trying it, thinking about it, or strategizing for it—whatever is applicable—so the “stretching yourself too thin” argument is invalid. Each thing that strikes a chord with you is an opportunity to learn a skill that may come in handy eventually, or it might confirm that another way of doing something is correct, or you might find a lifelong passion in something—who knows. Anything that gets your brain going, and keeps it going, is worth your time. Never sacrifice those things that you can’t stop thinking about (except for maybe an ex-boyfriend or something like that).
PJ: What is competitive horseback riding like on a national/international level?
AS: It is constantly humbling. Riding is an incredibly unique sport because it is a team sport, but with something that has a mind of its own. Perhaps the term “partnership sport” would be more correct. You can never know what to expect. Of course you get to a point where you know how a horse behaves, what works and what doesn’t, but you can still be completely blind-sided by any number of things. More than any other sport I have ever played or watched, it has an endless number of variables, so a high-caliber, organized routine is key to having any success at all—I think any rider would tell you this. The nature of the sport rewards time and utter mastery more than any sport I can think of (there are riders in the 60’s who are the best of the best, like the 2016 Olympic individual Gold Medalist, Nick Skelton, who is 59). Because of this, I am constantly engrossed in it, as it always has something to learn from, whether that’s a personal failure or watching someone else’s success. The sport has its issues, but I wouldn’t trade the opportunity to do it for anything.
PJ: What is your most memorable moment from OHS?
AS: There are so many, but I would say doing class while on horseback (sorry, Dr. Hays!).