On a drowsy Monday morning at Staples High School, Sir Thomas Palumbo ’13 (also known as Tommy, but a self-proclaimed knight) sat alert in math teacher Jane Levy’s period 7 Pre-Calculus class.

Levy routinely asks students for their choice of an exponential letter, and the common answer is “x.” She proved to be either very brave or very foolish in this morning asking Palumbo what exponent he wishes to use.

Palumbo chooses the letter “P,” emphasizing the capital punctuation. Levy asks why, of course, he chose the atypical “P.”

“For my last name, Palumbo, of course.” he answers with a lofty, prideful nod.

The only way to explain Tommy Palumbo is this: everything atypical, he makes his own, and typical of himself. Everything extraordinary, Palumbo makes ordinary.

“People think I am crazy, with a severe case of senioritis or ADHD or whatever you could come up with as an explanation for my antics,” Palumbo says. “My explanation: I’m simply T.F.T.C. – Too Frat To Care.”

Since early in his junior year, Palumbo has established a certain style for himself. He would wear sky blue senior girl shirts with his buddies, and pretend to be a member of the Staples Football team. Some call it rebellious, some call it satirical, and some call it offensive. For the idiosyncratic Palumbo, it’s just another day at the beach.

Tucker Rizzi ’13 is un-amused by Palumbo’s efforts to lighten the mood at Staples.

“While it’s relatively funny it does seem a bit played out and quite frankly I’m quite sick of the phonies,” Rizzi said. “when the same kind of jokes keep coming it begins to get tiresome.”

Alec Yass ’13 disagrees, respectfully, with Rizzi. “I think he is incredibly funny, just for his ability to disrupt the everyday routine at SHS,” Yass said. “Other people’s frustration with Palumbo equals good comedy.”

Alex Ludel ’13 took a more neutral stance. “It’s a little strange but it’s just his personality,” Ludel said. “He really likes to be the center of attention and will go to strange levels to get there.”