Editor’s Note: Terry Peabody ’58 is featured in issue 46 of the Falconer magazine, an aviation publication. Peabody, who was Culver’s 2008 Graduate of the Year, owns the Craggy Range Winery in Hastings, New Zealand. Here is what Peabody had to say about Culver in the article:

Reformed Rebel

Now a rebellious teenager, Peabody was taking voice lessons while attending the American high school in Tokyo. However, his surreptitious shenanigans abruptly ended when his father sent him to Culver Military Academy.

Discipline and regimentation at Culver was a shock. “It was a horrific change because in Japan, I was more or less a free spirit. All of a sudden I was under incredible disciplinary control,” he recalls.

Although Peabody would come to appreciate the experience later, the first year was particularly difficult. He vigorously rebelled and vowed not to return, but an impassioned plea from his mother convinced him otherwise. By the second year, he began enjoying his new life and did admirably in sports and academics. By the third year, he excelled.

The Culver experience was a defining moment. “It put me on a new path,” says Peabody. “I realized the benefits of discipline, hard work and concentration. It was important for me because I learned how to train and lead others.”

After graduation, he enrolled at the University of Maryland to study civil engineering but left two years later, in 1965, to marry and move to Australia. “I was meant to be in business. I was very young, and I was in a hurry to advance my career,” he says.

For the complete Falconer article, click here.