![Trevor Kenahan]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1536177869/portsmouthabbey/bf0j41ouoafxw2mbdj7j/KenahanTrevor.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1536177869/portsmouthabbey/bf0j41ouoafxw2mbdj7j/KenahanTrevor.jpg","width":400}])
Describe your path since graduating from Portsmouth Abbey School.
After graduating from Portsmouth Abbey School in 2012, I attended Beloit College, a small liberal arts school in Wisconsin. I studied political science and played goalie on the DIII Men’s Lacrosse team. I was lucky enough to be afforded the opportunity to be a team captain all four years, and that experience inspired me to pursue a challenging career with a leadership role. After substantial research, I decided that I wanted to become a Marine Corps Officer. Therefore, I coordinated training for the Marines into my schedule along with academics and athletics. During my summers, I worked many jobs from being a restaurant busser, interning for a legal team at an unclaimed property firm, and working maintenance at my college. After graduating from Beloit College in 2016, I went to Marine Corps Officer Candidates School (OCS) in Quantico Virginia for 10 weeks. I was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in March and attended The Basic School (TBS) for 6 months to be trained as a provisional rifle platoon commander. I am currently waiting for my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty).
How did your experience at Portsmouth Abbey School help you become the person and professional that you are today?
Portsmouth Abbey shaped me in three major ways: communication, critical thinking, and work ethic. As a Marine Corps Officer, a large part of what we do is planning missions and briefing our Marines. This process requires a great deal of critical analysis during the planning phase as well as confidence when briefing our plan to a platoon of Marines. Doing recitations over the years helped me build my confidence in this regard (I still have some of the poems committed to memory to this day). Secondly, the Abbey’s focus on exegesis has greatly helped me during the planning process in the Marine Corps as I am able to better analyze mission situations. The most significant influence I gained from the Abbey however is work ethic. To this day I think of Mr. Hobbins preaching about the importance of doing your job and working hard at everything you do (especially without whining). The structure and discipline required at the Abbey instilled habits in me that made me the person I am today.
What is the best advice you could give to a current student?
The two pieces of advice I would give current students involves attention to detail and friendship. I have learned that attention to detail is a great way to set you apart from your peers. Whether you are doing homework or making your bed, try to focus on doing the little things right everyday and the bigger things in life will fall into place. Secondly, stay close with your Abbey friends. Throughout college or those who I serve with I am hard-pressed to find closer friends than those I made at the Abbey. Their continued support to this day has been instrumental in getting through hard times.