Dorms Bond During Academy Life Day
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From apple picking to dodgeball in the gym or football on the beach, students all across campus took a brief break from their studies to spend time with their dorms on Monday for the annual Academy Life Day.
Ralph Sneeden, an English instructor affiliated with Cilley Hall, said that Academy Life Day provides the community with a valuable chance to try something different as a group.
"One thing I believe very firmly is that my class is not the center of the universe, and that Academy Life Day is one day out of the year where the dorm gets off campus and goes somewhere," Sneeden said. "I just get the biggest charge out of watching the entire tribe out there."
For some teachers, Academy Life Day is essential. Aviva Halani, a new math instructor at the Academy, said that she prioritized a strong community when she applied for teaching positions. "One thing that was really important to me when I was looking at schools to teach at was, how would you describe the community? How do the faculty interact with the students, how do the students seem to get along?" she said. "I really wanted a place that had that sense of community, and after witnessing events like Academy Life Day, I can see that forming a close knit community is a priority here at Exeter. And that’s important especially when there are a thousand kids away from home and living here. You need that sense of community here, or it can get very lonely."
Students agreed on the importance of Academy Life Day, especially for new students. "I think Academy Life Day is important for multiple reasons," lower and Ewald resident Joe Bartkovich said. "The amount of stress that new students go through in their first few weeks at Exeter is enormous, and lately much, much harder than anything else they have experienced before this, so the fact that they get some time to relax and do something fun with their dorm is a good choice. It definitely improves the bonding in the dorm—it gives all the kids a chance to hang out with each other and meet the dorm faculty."
Every dorm meets for the day or just a few hours as a whole, engaging in activities on or off campus. Whether the dorm varies their event year by year or has a tradition special to Academy Life Day, it has always been a day dedicated to enjoying the company of the dorm or day student community.
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"Main Street went to the football field and played capture the flag," lower Jacob Pressman said. "I think it’s a really great tradition. We do it every year and it’s always a day that brings everyone from preps to seniors closer as a dorm."
Academy Life Day appeals to new students especially, spurring connections between dorm mates as well as faculty. "As a new member of the dorm, Academy Life Day helped me make a connection with my dorm mates that I wouldn’t have had before," prep Brittani Chapman said. "In Dunbar there are many residents, so I was really looking forward to meet[ing] and get[ting] to know them all. Although I didn’t have a conversation with each and every one of them, I did get to meet some pretty neat people from all around the world."
Some students don’t have a particular preference for their dorm activity, as long as they are together with their dorm. "Ultimately it doesn’t really matter what we do on Academy Life Day," Amen senior Alison Lee said. "What matters is that we go out together with our dorm mates to do fun stuff and get to know them better. When we know each other better, that fun stuff is even more fun."
Cilley Hall lower Kevin Zhen agreed that community spirit is at the heart of Academy Life Day. "Academy Life Day is definitely important. It’s a really great dorm bonding experience in general. You get to hang out and do things you normally don’t do as an entire dorm," he said.