Brock Overcash

Background

A Salisbury Academy student from junior kindergarten through eighth grade, Brock Overcash attended Salisbury Academy from 1999 to 2009. He progressed onto Salisbury High School and then studied computer science at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Overcash graduated from Georgia Tech in May 2017 and now works for Facebook in Menlo Park, California. He loves to hike, backpack, and cook new and interesting dishes.

Biggest Takeaways from SA

“My biggest takeaways from Salisbury Academy are the value of understanding and learning by doing. Out at Facebook, there has been a lot to learn. You can’t memorize things last minute for a test and then forget them the day after; you have to understand them. At Salisbury Academy, as we did projects, wrote papers, or took tests, there was this focus on understanding. In many ways, this understanding came from exploring and doing.”

“There were so many examples of this: insect collection in science, acting out the Boxer Rebellion in social studies, writing our own poetry in English class, learning to sew for puppets in Spanish, and the list goes on. This curiosity for understanding has been a driving factor in my education, and now in my work.”

Favorite SA Memory

“I’ve got lots of favorite SA memories, but I’ll select a few. I remember doing a unit on buoyancy in middle school science. For that, we were tasked with creating a boat that could hold as many pennies as it could fit within a given size and materials. We ended up having to break out some small weights to put in the top performers and it was fun to see myself and my classmates exceeding even our own highest expectations.”

“I also remember making leprechaun traps for St. Patrick’s day in kindergarten. It was so intense for our little selves since we only had one shot to get it right. The creativity and work that went into those traps was so much fun, and the day we went to check the traps has to be my most anticipated school day ever!”

“Finally, there are too many sports memories to pick just one. From glorious victories to crushing defeats, being a part of a team is something that cannot be replaced. I was taught the value of that first at Salisbury Academy.”