Academy Life Day
By: Michael Yang, Chelsea Zhao, Vir Shrestha
On Monday September 27, all classes and academic appointments were cancelled for Academy Life Day (ALD), a unique day for dorm community bonding around Southern New Hampshire, with dorms offering activities such as apple picking, going to the beach, or a visit to the local fun center.
After two years of waiting, this student's favorite Exeter tradition is back! Lower Mihir Shrestha going into his first ever in-person Academy life day (ALD) said, “I am absolutely enthralled for Monday. I can’t wait to just hang around with my buddies and capture the flag with my dorm.”
When asked what is your favorite aspect of ALD, senior and Amen proctor Emily Fuller said, “My favorite part of ALD is that it is a rare occasion where we spend the whole day with our dorm community, growing closer. It is one of the few days of the year that is fully dedicated to having fun and bonding with one another- and remembering my first ALD- that is absolutely the case!”
Upper Anjali Frary responded, “I love how ALD gives me a chance to interact with the new students in my dorm.”
Each dorm and residence house have their own plans set up through the dorm faculty and proctors. Kicking it off, Merrill Hall has some fun activities planned. Merrill proctor Kitty Coats said, “A company is coming to set up laser tag for us on campus. There are teams within the dorms that will compete against each other, and each team will dress in theme.” She continued, “there will also be Dominos to munch on.”
Merrill dorm head Troy Samuels added, “last year I would say ALD was a day at the academy, where we were alive, but due to COVID and other limitations did not quite help build the sense of community that the day is all about.”
Webster Hall is also bringing the spice. Webster proctor Alexander Masoudi said, “we
are going to the beach, where we will play frisbee, football, and hang out. Then we will build a sand couch.” He continued, “finally, we'll come back to campus for lunch!”
Webster’s dorm head Mr. Meyers added, “we made t-shirts together on the Sunday night before.”
Amen Hall will be sticking to their yearly Academy life day dorm tradition. This particular tradition involves going to the Cider Hill farm to participate in apple picking, then going to Flatbreads pizza.
Fuller said, “I remember that ALD was incredibly memorable, and still often see pictures from it, so it will be super cool to have some of the same pictures and memories but 4 years later and with our new Amen community.”
Main Street dorm head Tyler Caldwell planned a fun apple cider and donuts breakfast from Donut Love from downtown Exeter. Then Main Street bonded in the stadium with the classic Main Street tradition, capturing the flag. Mr. Caldwell explains “There are three flags (footballs) per team and each football is in a nest. That ‘nest’ is a safe zone for the other team, so students can launch a pass from the safety of the nest to a wide receiver on their team.”
Cilley proctor Andreas Lorgen says Cilley Hall will also head to the beach. After an eventful morning, they will pick up Szechuan as a dorm for lunch. Andreas sums up their excitement saying, “Last year with Covid, we weren’t able to do these things, so we are all really looking forward to bringing these traditions back this year. For us, Academy Life Day is all about building culture and community as a dorm and as a larger school community, and these activities are just some of the ways we do that.”
Academy life day is full of eventful activities enjoyed by all.
