A New Jersey girl whose parents divorced during her time at PA, Cristina Olivetti Spencer’s roots in Andover run deep. Her grandmother and her great aunts were Abbott Alumnae. Cristina grew up spending Thanksgivings in Andover, so coming to PA was almost preordained. As with many of us, Cristina attributes Tommy T. Lyons as adding greatly to her education based on her time in his History 30 and his Con Law class. Cristina has had an amazing journey as a spouse and as a mother, a tale which we will let her tell, and part of which will be revealed in her upcoming book, originally drafted as her MFA thesis. A lifelong student, Cristina says she’s been trying to return to the thoughtfulness of the thinking community that was Andover ever since we graduated. Acknowledging that there is a sacred quality among all of us being in each other’s lives, Cris has deep affection for this class and those of us in it. "Goodness" and "knowledge" being words she lives with, Cris and I discussed different forms of success and leadership, which she defined as “taking responsibility for the things we care about”
