Students ‘Take a Break’ With Academy Life Day
From apple picking to hanging out at the beach to laser tag and walking along the coast of Maine, Exonians enjoyed a diverse array of activities Monday during Exeter’s annual Academy Life Day (ALD). Every ALD, students and faculty take a break from their busy campus schedules for advisory and dorm bonding, and as usual, this academic year’s ALD brought with it fun and community bonding.
According to Dean of Residential Life AJ Cosgrove, the structure of the day was the same as other years’. Each student was alotted $15 for the day, and most dorms and advisories spent this budget on a morning activity followed by a lunch.
At Exeter, where students’ and faculty members’ schedules are often fully packed with school, extracurriculars, sports, music and other commitments, students and faculty agree it can be difficult to slow down and find quality time to build connections with newer members of the community. ALD serves to carve such time out of Exonian schedules and provide a catalyst for the development of connections.
New students enjoyed getting to know the older students in their dorms better. Many now feel more welcomed and a greater part of the Exeter community. Having an entire day set aside solely for bonding, students were able to break the barriers and connect with their dormmates.
“I’m a big fan of the whole idea of ALD. I felt like I got to know the kids in my dorm much better than I had.”
“I think it was a really great opportunity for all of us to get closer. As I spent time with [dormmates] while on the bus ride, going inside shops, walking along the beach and eating lunch together, we got to know each other a lot more,” prep Ursula Sze said. “We got to make many great memories just in this one day, and it was a great time to just bond with the people in our dorm.”
Prep Hillary Davis echoed Sze’s sentiments. Davis added that participating in ALD, she felt that she was becoming a part of something. No longer just a new student, she became a part of a memory, a tradition of the Academy and her dorm.
“It feels special to be starting a new tradition. I heard that in the past years, we went apple-picking, but this year our dorm, [McConnell Hall], wanted a change,” David explained. “I hope our trip to Ogunquit will be continued in the future because I had a really fun day there.”
Returning students alike looked forward to ALD in hopes of bonding with their younger dorm mates and fellow advisees. Senior and Amen Hall proctor Keji Oladinni explained that ALD is a groundbreaking moment for community and dorm life. “Academy Life Day can actually really be a turning point in the overall bonding of the dorm, and finally breaking the ‘new people, returning people’ barriers.”
Lower Charles Smith agreed with Oladinni. Reflecting upon both this year’s ALD and last year’s ALD when he was a prep, Smith said that ALD eliminates the barriers and the awkwardness of approaching dorm bonding by bringing students all together in one place for half a day.
“I’m a big fan of the whole idea of ALD, especially for the new kids because it’s one of the first events where all of the new and returning kids the dorm are sort of forced together and do something which builds a lot of good connections really quickly. At least that was my experience with last year’s Academy Life Day as a new student; I felt like I got to know the kids in my dorm much better than I had,” Smith said.
Many students said that during ALD, they were more easily able to approach other students in the dorm. Lower Bridgette Han said ALD provides an instrumental opportunity for younger and shyer students to connect with their peers and upperclassmen.
“I think it’s a great time to take a break from school and just bond with everyone in the dorm. I always look forward to the fun and creating those dorm connections,” Han said. “I think [ALD] enables shyer or newer students to reach out more easily to upperclassmen. Amen [Hall] has always been close, and I think Academy Life Day really brought us more together.”
Not only was the day a memorable experience for the students, but also for faculty. Faculty were glad that the students and teachers had the chance to bond with each other outside the confines of school life. History instructor Michael Golay said that ALD provides a nice “change of pace” in students’ lives and a step in the right direction in fostering a close Exeter community.
“Academy Life Day gives an opportunity for the new girls and the returnees to get together, and I was really glad that it was a stress-free day for everyone,” Golay said. “Becoming closer is a process that you don’t complete in a day but I think it’s good for the dorm to do things as a group and for the new girls to mix it up with the older girls. I really think it’s a step for them to get to know one another better and spend time.”
While all agreed that the idea behind ALD is well-intentioned and created the opportunity, some acknowledged that the effectiveness of the day depends on how dorm, advisories and proctors plan the day. Some believed that the day could have been improved to promote greater bonding.
Some suggested that faculty and proctors go the extra step and purposefully set up situations to mix students, whether that be by splitting the dorm into randomized groups or engaging the dorm in ice breakers or choosing the ALD activity more wisely.
“I do think that ALD can sometimes be a challenge for dorms to find an event that’s fun and exciting but also allows for multiple interactions between dorm members,” history instructor Betty Luther-Hillman said. “There were plenty of opportunities for students to hang out in different combinations, but I personally would have liked to see more purposeful mixing up of groups, having students hang out together who don’t usually do so.”
Some students also noted that the day students with advisers associated to dorms were often left out of group activities as they lacked the bonds and acquaintance all the dorm mates had with each other. While the dorm would take pictures, for instance, the day students would inevitably be left out.
“The one real problem I noticed was just that the two day students we had weren't really that integrated. None of us really knew them,” Smith said.
Furthermore, seeing ALD as a break from school, some students said they wished they didn’t have Saturday classes the weekend before so that they could truly relax for a long weekend.
Overall, despite these small complaints and suggestions for improvement, students and faculty alike said that they had fun and appreciated the opportunity for a break and community bonding. ALD marked the beginning of many friendships and memories to come.
“Academy Life Day is such a unique and special tradition of the Academy’s. It’s something that Exonians look forward to every year. It’s a day that we will look back on and remember that that’s where it all started,” upper Caroline Davis said. “From being a prep on [ALD] to being an upper on [ALD], I know how valuable ALD is. Some of my closest friendships have sprouted from ALD, and this year, will undoubtedly be the same.”
Contributions from Sarah Ryu