Agganis Scholar Slattery sets sail for Harvard

(This is the seventh in a series of articles on North Shore recipients of the Agganis Foundation scholarships.)For most high school athletes, their heroes are people like Michael Jordan, Joe Montana or Derek Jeter. But for St. John’s Prep’s Gram Slattery, people like Bode Miller or Dennis Conner could be the ones who were idolized growing up.For the Harvard-bound Eagle, it was on the slopes and on the sea where Slattery found his calling and success.”They’re both sports that have a big amount of self-reliance,” Slattery said. “You have to be prepared and more confident in them.”A member of the skiing and sailing teams at the Prep, Slattery found his niche and claimed a state championship in both sports during his time in Danvers.”I really liked both sports and winning championships in them was nice,” Slattery said. “Both my parents skied and sailed so I was able to get into it early and enjoy it.”Despite playing a pair of sports that don’t usually garner a lot of recognition, Slattery was still honored and humbled to be recognized as an Agganis scholar.”It’s a great honor and you sort of feel like part of something that is much bigger,” Slattery said. “It’s a humbling experience.”Slattery wants to focus on either social sciences, economics and/or English when he arrives on campus in Cambridge this fall and hopes to be a part of the Harvard sailing team.The soon-to-be Crimson athlete’s love of sailing has found its way into his work as an instructor at the Pleon Yacht Club in Marblehead.”I was a student there at one point and I really feel like with every class that I teach, that I might have a chance to pass my love of sailing on to the other kids,” Slattery said.Balancing tough academics and athletics at one of the premier schools on the North Shore was a challenge, but it was one that Slattery truly enjoyed ? along with the camaraderie of his fellow classmates.”I feel like some of the things that happen to people in a normal high school don’t happen at the Prep,” Slattery said. “Everyone there is quality people and it was a great experience and definitely challenged me as a person.”That being said, Slattery is ready to spread his wings a little bit come September.”It’s going to be a great opportunity at Harvard,” Slattery said.”It’s a little melancholy because of the life I’m leaving behind but I’m ready to open myself up to a lot of new things.”Since its inception in 1955, the Agganis Foundation has awarded $1,436,525 in scholarships to 845 student-athletes.