Life Advice

Q1: I’ve heard a lot of complaints recently about there not being enough organized events for students to partake in. In past years we’ve had bowling, sledding and other events, however these are quite generic and lack creativity. Have you two thought of any events that could be fun for dorms or other campus groups? LimpLikeAnOldSchoolSimp: I know something that’s been mentioned a lot is paintball, though this might not be fun for all. Yusuke and I, personally, are big fans of dorm versus dorm soccer and Dance Central 3 tournaments. If something less active fits your fancy, things like late-night dorm fishbowls, in which anonymous questions are asked to dormmates, can be an interesting way to spend your time with your buds. Q2: submitted by Ginnerz_Luck: I heard that the school is contemplating whether or not they should make iPads mandatory next year. I find this proposal prone to failure. I think a lot of students may find it difficult to use their iPad for educational purposes, and instead might be distracted by games. For instance, I often find myself playing Horse Academy, sometimes even in class. What do you guys think about this? Yoosk: I for one think that iPads are unnecessary. As you mentioned in the question, I can see how iPads could distract you in class, and lead to poor Harkness discussions. Further, I can’t imagine taking notes/annotating on a digital screen. I assume that most students already own a personal laptop, so I don’t think it would be fair to make students pay for a tablet device that would barely assist in our learning. Q3: For the past week we had Experience Exeter, a program which I believe doesn’t accurately represent life at Exeter. I feel like this sort of deceives prospective students. Though things like making meals better, or acting a certain way in class may make the academy out to be a better place, is this a positive thing, or should we focus more on depicting an honest portrait of life at Exeter? Yoosk: If anything, I would say that Experience Exeter is the best way to get to know what life is like here at the Academy. Although your experience might differ greatly depending on who your host was, I think that in general students tend to act normally instead of “putting on a show.” I hosted a kid myself last Friday, and he seemed to be gaining a deeper understanding of Exeter. One of the classes we went to was quite boring due to a mediocre Harkness discussion, but he seemed to understand that it was just a “slow class” and that discussions like this are not routine. LimpLikeAnOldSchoolSimp: I would disagree, and personally I believe things like practicing introductions and setting guidelines or restrictions for class dynamic prior to hosting students are somewhat absurd. I think students should be able to experience Exeter in its rawest form, allowing them to judge whether it is a fit for them or not.~Have any life problems? Submit your questions to Mason and Yusuke at exonianaf@gmail, or slip them into P.O. box #1897.