Junior Matt Papandon is thriving in and out of the Malvern classroom surrounded by his peers.

Matt Papandon is sometimes just known as the brother of John Papandon ’16 to those older than him and those who do not know him well. But now in his junior year at Malvern, he is paving his own path.

Matt Papandon wakes up every morning, gets ready for school, and begins his three-minute commute to Malvern.

“This is the first year I have driven because last year John just drove almost every day,” he said. The commute is not anything unusual to Papandon, and it helps having such a short commute to be able to get to school on time.

Papandon has a twin sister, Grace, who attends Villa Maria. “Sometimes the driving situation gets confusing, but I usually end up being the one to drive because Malvern is so close,” he said.

Papandon attended Saint Aloysius in Bryn Mawr from Kindergarten through eighth grade.

“John came to Malvern for Middle School, but I loved St. Aloysius, so I stayed until eighth grade then made an easy decision to come to Malvern for high school,” he said.

Papandon is a huge fan of Mr. Tom McGuire’s Honors East Asian History class. “Easily my favorite class. Mr. McGuire is such an amazing teacher, and I just love history,” Papandon said.

Papandon is currently playing varsity tennis for Malvern, and serves as the varsity soccer team manager.

“We are all good friends with Matt, and are looking forwards to working with him and having him help out our team as manager next year,” junior varsity soccer player Brendan Teufel said.

Papandon played freshman soccer and has always had a love for the game. “I have always had a passion for soccer, I played all through elementary school and follow the Champions League sometimes,” he said.

Papandon also plays CYO Basketball for St. Pat’s in Malvern, where he is on the same team as several other Malvern students.

“CYO for [St.] Pat’s is so fun. We play against so many other Malvern guys on every team, too, so it is some great competition with friends,” he said.

“Matt doesn’t play a whole lot and his team is big, but when we play them it’s always great to play against your brothers,” fellow CYO player and junior Jack Leyden said. “Matt is always pretty positive and funny, and it’s natural to be around him and laugh.”

And as for Papandon’s opinion on the best lunch in the Malvern cafeteria? “Everyone loves the chicken nuggets. Curly fries go great with them, too,” he said.