Sean Dory and His 60 Day Bike Adventure

On this past Thursday, March 30, the Religious Life Council (RLC) hosted science teacher Sean Dory’s “What Matters to Me and Why” in the Bunn Library. All students were welcome to attend this Exploration and listen to Dory’s presentation. 

Dory teaches Honors Environmental Science and Introduction to Biological and Environmental Sciences. In his presentation, he elaborated more on some of his out-of-school interests and experiences. Specifically, Dory spoke about a sixty day cross-country bike ride he took this past summer with his close friend Sam. “This was a life-changing experience for both of us––we faced challenges that we never could have predicted and were introduced to new perspectives from town-to-town,” Dory said. During the trip, he “learned to drop prejudices and to open up to the stories of individuals [they] ran into along the way.” Most importantly, Dory and his friend “walked away with a much more real understanding of the complexities of this country.” 

In a broader sense, the purpose of “What Matters to Me and Why” lies in what the attendees, predominantly made up of students, learn from the speaker. From Dory’s perspective, his goal was for listeners to “walk away understanding that joy is not something that should be compromised as you go through life, but something that you need to seek.” The overarching theme of his talk was for Lawrenceville students to explore what actually made them feel “whole and happy as they graduate and begin to experience life outside of the Lawrenceville bubble”.

Sathvik Samant ’26 attended the talk to learn more about Dory outside of class. “I learned that Mr. Dory is not only a biker, but a resilient [and] adventurous individual and a great storyteller,” he said. Though Samant initially believed the event would revolve around Dory’s “core values,” he was pleased to hear more about his “amazing story and journey [and] the lessons he learned along the way.”  

Charles Potter ’25 also thought the event would mainly be about Dory’s experience teaching science, but was “pleasantly surprised” to learn about his biking trip. “It was really interesting to hear how, even though it was a treacherous journey, Mr. Dory still found it enjoyable,” he elaborated. 

Jamie Leas ’25 noted that it was “wonderful to see this side of [Dory].” She appreciates how “What Matters to Me and Why” events give students the opportunity to learn more about what their teachers are like outside of the classroom. This event helped her gain a better understanding of how “students and faculty members can bond over something separate from academics.”

Liza Strong ’24, one of the six RLC leaders, described her experience as being “super interesting and inspiring.” “I learned about Mr. Dory's resilience and determination throughout his cross-country bike ride. His stories about the kindness of humanity were very inspiring,” she said. As a frequent contributor to the RLC events, she has learned “so much about faculty members” through these events. 

With students from all forms attending the event, Dory was able to share his story with many members of the Lawrenceville community. In the future, the RLC aims to host more “What Matters to Me and Why” events to give different teachers on campus the opportunity to share their own stories.