Jack Ehlinger ’26 is a senior boarding student in Bradford from Needham, Massachusetts. If Ehlinger were to be described in three words, they would be passionate, bold, and extroverted; he is unafraid to voice his thoughts and is often quick to raise questions during class. At Concord Academy, he is most known as a co-head of the Hypertrophy Club, where he teaches weightlifting and Fitness Center basics. Upon getting introduced to fitness at CA, he became very passionate about weight training, driving him to share his love for lifting with the rest of the community through the club.
Ehlinger’s love for athletics extends beyond fitness and into his involvement with the CA Varsity Wrestling and Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse teams, in which he excels in the 215 lbs weight class and the defense position, respectively.
Furthermore, Ehlinger is involved with the CA Jazz Ensemble as a percussionist, playing solos for many different music pieces—especially on the vibraphone. His hobbies include watching movies and hanging out in the fitness center.
“I want to major in philosophy,” Ehlinger shared, thinking into the future. While his long-term goal is yet to be determined, he is passionate about philosophy and is working hard on his college applications to study it in the future.
His favorite class at CA so far is his current English class, Black Mirrors with Sabrina Sadique—Ehlinger feels that the class enables him to think and speak deeply and freely, both about the content of the course and about himself. “These excellent teachers like Sabrina and the sense of common trust made me decide to come to CA,” Ehlinger added.
At CA, Ehlinger was able to pick up lacrosse, wrestling, and fitness—a few of his greatest passions—for the first time. “It’s actually my first time doing wrestling this season,” he said. “I’m having a lot of fun. I’m excited to see myself and our team progress.” Another first-time event for Ehlinger was his Spain semester away that he decided to undertake in the Spring of his Junior year. While he has a lot of great memories from Spain, one of the most important lessons he learned was to take risks, a lesson he still carries with him back stateside.
As he approaches his CA graduation, Ehlinger wishes he had talked to more people he wasn’t close with. While he is very appreciative of his long-term friends, he feels like he could have branched out more to other social circles within the community and made even greater connections, something he has started doing this year. “I’ll miss my friends, old and new,” he said. Ehlinger expresses his gratitude for the friends, memories, knowledge, values, and more that CA provides him.
As a message to the CA community, Ehlinger stated, “Come to Hypertrophy Club. Be kind, be curious, not judgmental, and be a goldfish. Special shoutout to Connor Higgins.”