Winter Break: Busy for Some

This past winter break was filled with joy and exciting adventures for much of Exeter’s student body. Tales of teeth-clenching international chess tournaments and intense eight-hour-per-day math camps were told, though some students chose to simply relax and enjoy the break after a grueling three week start to winter term, tagged “Heck Week.”Upper Ellen Xiang participated in a prestigious chess competition in the United Arab Emirates, called the World Youth Chess Tournament. 1750 contes- tants came from over 120 countries, and Xiang competed in the Girls Under 16 group against 115 other girls. After eleven days of competition, playing more than seven hours of chess each day, Xiang finished in twenty-sixth place, ex- ceeding her original projection of thirty-seventh from the rankings established before the tournament.Although Xiang was a little rusty from the lack of chess practice during the term and unsatisfactory performances in recent competitions, she found the tournament to be a great experience.“Just being in an environment where I played so much chess definitely im- proved my skills, and the tournament left me with so much more appreciation of just how truly great the game is,” she said. “The beautiful weather and making new friends certainly didn't hurt.”Xiang is currently planning to participate in other chess competitions during spring break and over the summer.While Xiang was busy playing chess in UAE, lower Kevin Sun was working hard at a math camp in Canada. He had to prepare for tests, attend various classes and study problem sets for eight hours each day. Though it was undoubtedly a lot of hard work, Sun enjoyed every aspect of the camp.Not every student’s break was as exciting as Xiang’s or Sun’s. Many stu- dents were simply glad to go home, and others noted how different life was compared to Exeter.“My break was fairly uneventful,” prep Seiji Sakiyama said. “Reverting to the suburban monotony that I was so used to in middle school really gave me some perspective as to what a privilege it is to be here at Exeter.”Lower Jake Della Pasqua had a similar experience over the break.“At first the break was nice, but after a few days it started to get boring,” he said. “It was kind of a lose-lose situation where I didn't want to come back [to Exeter] because I wasn't quite ready to work yet, but at the same time, I was really bored at home because I don't have too many connections at home anymore.”Since it was a relatively long break, some students took the opportunity to explore exotic places. Lower Emma Kim visited Indonesia, where she was glad to relax in warm weather, compared to others who were suffering from the Arctic-like chill at home.“Indonesia was amazing,” Kim said. “Since I'm a day student, I spent Thanks- giving in Exeter, so it was really nice to get off campus and go somewhere warm.” Teachers also took some time off over break to relax, such as Spanish in-structor Fermin Perez.“We stayed here for some time and also went to New York City for a fewdays and it was nice. We enjoyed the Upper West Side area of NYC,” Perez said. “I knew I had a lot of papers to correct, but then I thought, ‘You know what, put it somewhere else, not even the back of your mind,’ you know, and I said ‘I want to forget, relax, just before the students come.’ Correcting papers doesn’t let you fully enjoy break.”Whether strengthening academic skills, enjoying an exotic vacation in Indonesia or simply relaxing at home, everyone has their own way of relishing the little time spent away from campus.