Web Exclusive: Back to School

By: Atishay Jain, Ellie Ana Sperantsas, Andrea Nystedt, Catherine Wu, Andrew Yuan

With the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, two classes of students are returning without having experienced a full, normal term at the Academy. Without classroom plexiglass and mask requirements outdoors, students and faculty anticipate their first non-COVID term with an attempt to return to normalcy. 

Some returning upperclassmen find a divide between students who know a pre-pandemic Academy and those who do not. Senior Siona Jain said, “It feels a little weird. I almost feel as though there’s a disconnect between what ’23, ’24, and ’25 know about Exeter and what ’22 knows and loves,” Jain said. “I remember a lot of people asking me what EP was last year, and why we cared that it was on a Tuesday. There’s so many things that no other class has experienced that I hope we can bring back this year.”

Senior and Girls’ Cross Country Captain Lindsay Machado shared similar thoughts. “Sometimes it feels a little isolating, knowing that you can't quite relate to everybody else on campus,” Machado said. “I've often brought this up with the cross country team, but I'll make a reference to a team tradition and then realize that they actually haven't experienced it yet.” 

Upper Jolie Ng agreed, stating the changes she has observed within the classroom. “Going back to ‘normal’ in person school is a really good way for us as students to communicate with others, especially without plexiglass in classrooms,” Ng said. “In the future, having no mask requirement will definitely make it a lot easier to listen to and understand peers in class.”

Senior Kiesse Nanor explained her concern for the community’s safety. “I think a lot of students, especially upperclassmen who remember what it was like pre COVID, are really looking forward to getting back to normal,” Nanor said. “I think the main priority for all students, faculty and administration is just making sure that we can go back to normal, but also stay safe. Just always keeping an eye out on cases and numbers, not only in the county, but also in the country, so we can make sure that we're having fun, but being responsible, which is important.”

“It's kind of weird because there's definitely things that I miss from prep year and sometimes I wonder, is it better to have had something and miss it than not to have experienced anything at all?” Nanor continued. “But it's sad, thinking about all the things that I've missed between my prep year and now my senior year, but I think this is an opportunity for us to step forward as leaders and just show like, oh, this is what normalcy is like on campus. And even if there's still a pandemic going on, we can have fun. We have to make sure that we're being responsible and just setting an example for the lower classes.”

Lower Ava Zhao reflected on the hardships last year and expressed hopes for the upcoming school year. “Last year there has been some difficult times stemming from racial injustice or sexual misconduct that has defined or put our personhood in question,” Zhao said. “We need to be there to support each other. For the coming year, I’m excited to be there to support others and enrich that connection. I’m excited, but before that we need to be safe and else we are going to lose what we already have.”

Some teachers are adjusting their teaching approach to accommodate for student’s experiences of virtual classes. “I just need to remember that some of our new students have had only on-line teaching for more than a year, and we all should be patient with them. Also, we need to be patient with those of us who were here last year, because it was a hard and tiring year,” physics instructor Tatiana Waterman said. 

Four year seniors recalled many of their favorite pre-COVID traditions. “I feel like the traditions I most remember were the little ones,” Jain said, “sitting in Elm all day on Sundays doing homework while friends filter in and out of their table, playing cards in Grill, or running to Wetherell in between classes to get the good cereal.”

Machado said, “I think I'm partly worried that if these traditions sort of die out as the class of 2022 graduates, then a lot of campus culture will be lost in the next generation, and there's going to be a lot of rebuilding to be done. In some ways, that can be really great at establishing a new school culture.”

Senior Gretl Baghadi is looking forward to more engagement and personal connection within the community. “Hopefully, this year, everyone will sharpen their Harkness skills after so long with these physical barriers blocking our communication,” Baghadi said. “I am also excited to be able to hug others because personally, physical touch is a big factor in keeping my mental health in check. I am glad that it is now safe to hug friends with less worry of spreading COVID.”

Upper Lydia Osei agreed, citing how interpersonal support can affect student experience at the Academy. “A return back to normalcy means you can form relationships with people while going out of town on weekends to visit shops with them,” Osei said, “It adds to your experience at Exeter, and I’m excited for traditions to return as COVID made our lives very confusing last year. I hope we can give people high fives, start hugging friends and ask for visitations without having to consider the room capacity limits.” 

Machado shared encouragement to the preps and lowers about this transition out of virtual school. “Sometimes I worry that the class of 2024 and class of 2025 were in online school for so long that they did not experience what high school is really like while getting caught up in the academics of Exeter and how intense it can all be. You're watching the students next to you with crazy success stories and the imposter syndrome that a lot of kids at Exeter have,” Machado said. “I hope the class of 2024 and class of 2025 realize that there's much more to Exeter than the academics and particularly in campus life. I'm hoping that as we phase out of the pandemic and that a lot of those traditions can be revived and a lot of the campus culture can resurface because that is what ultimately connects Exeter is campus traditions and campus culture.” 

Athletics are another part of the Academy that was affected by COVID, as Director of Physical Education and Athletics Jason Baseden explained. “I'm excited for the students to finally be able to have an opportunity to get back on the field, on the courts, and in the water, and compete and play with their schoolmates... instead of just practicing all the time,” Baseden said.

Machado reflected on how her experience on the cross country team was affected by the pandemic. “I really miss having real inner schools for cross country, and the entire team good stay in a hotel the night before, and explore the, the schools grounds, go up for practice runs and you get to run with people from 10 other schools and it's the big race of the year and it's really important and really fun. This year I'm a little worried that we won't get to have as enriching of experience,” Machado said.

Baseden noted, “This is the 51st year of girls athletics at Exeter, so I think it'd be great to see support for our girls from the community as much as there is for our boys and men. We are all one at Exeter and my hope in terms of athletics is that we come together and support, not only the athletes on the field, but we have a number of great dancers and musicians and artists as well,” Baseden said. “The beauty of Exeter is there's such a diverse landscape of passions and interests and the more we can do to celebrate everybody's, the better the community spirit will be.”

Students expressed their excitement for school life and athletics. “I love going back to pre-COVID Exeter so much. It feels almost full circle because this is the Exeter I remember from prep year. I’m most excited for dances and events like EA to come back. I’m also looking forward to Visitations again,” Jain said.

Naisha Deora said, “When I applied to this school, this is what I signed up for. I'm excited to see how the class dynamics change and how things start to fall into place better, even in terms of sports competitions, etc.”

Upper Ming Thompson expressed excitement for the upcoming year. “It's going to be much easier to come together as different communities as things get closer to normal. I know last year it was hard to form close communities in the dorms, and it was hard to talk to people in classes and in sports.”

In terms of clubs, many students are interested in literary and creative writing clubs. “I'm interested in joining The Exonian, maybe Pendulum as well, because I'm interested in creative writing, and Korean Students Association, Asian Voices. I think, honestly there's probably going to be a lot more in that list after club night next week,” prep Roxanne Park said.

Lower Ariana Thornton agreed, noting her interests in publications and clubs such as Model United Nations (Model UN) as well. “I think I will meet a lot more interesting clubs on club night and I want to join some environmental and community engagement clubs as well,” Thornton said.

Students stepping into leadership positions as club coheads have many hopes for this year as well. “Being a co-head of two clubs this year is really exciting,” upper Jolie Ng said, “and if COVID restrictions ease up I’m looking forward to having closer relationships with all our club members.”

Many students have expressed their opinions regarding the change in class schedule this year, especially the addition of short and long blocks. “In terms of the new schedule, I love having no homework for short blocks because it gives me more time to relax at night without extra work. I also appreciate long blocks since it gives us more class time to focus on harder topics that may need extra time to learn,” Ng said.

Upper Mitchell Tam agreed. “I really like short blocks because classes are a lot more fun and there is no homework.”

Lunch blocks have also been a hassle for many students due to long lines outside dining halls. “Since everyone shares a lunch block,” Tam continued, “the lines for lunch are very long and it’s almost impossible to get lunch if your class is let out a bit late.”

Students also appreciate the shortened class days on Wednesdays compared to last year’s Wednesday schedule. “The half-day on Wednesday feels better than having every other Wednesday off,” Deora said. “The half-days are easier to work with, because instead of the week and routine coming to a complete standstill, like it did when we had Wednesday's off, we are still going to classes, but have slightly more time throughout the day.”

Many new students are seeing the hallways and pathways for the first time. “I'm really excited about getting to know more people this year from different backgrounds,, with different interests and in different ways, especially through clubs and other activities on campus,” prep Roxane Park said.

Nerves can also fill some space at the beginning of the year. “I was really nervous about the possibility of being behind other classmates that have already had a year at Exeter but after meeting so Many other new lowers and also returning lowers. I feel much more confident in assimilating into the student body and belonging,” Thorton said.

Student leaders are very eager to welcome new and returning students. “This year’s leaders are lucky to be in this position to introduce our peers to a normal Exeter as most of us knew it COVID. Overall, I am so happy to be a proctor and student listener in Dunbar because of the great community that I have met, and our team has helped foster in the last few days already,” Baghadi said. 

“As a student listener, I hope that the mental health on campus will improve to a certain degree because of the decrease in stress overall due to seeing other faces without masks, loose enforcement of social distancing and being able to visit others’ rooms” Baghadi continued.

Since students may not have had a tour before attending Exeter, this is their first time seeing the campus through their own eyes. “The campus is very beautiful, and all the facilities are open and welcoming. I think the gym in particular, as one can go any time to exercise,” prep Bryan Huang said.

It has been noticed that the new students have not been that shy on asking questions to returning students especially student leaders, “I find it so amazing how many new students have been confident to ask me and fellow leaders for directions and questions about campus because I think shows that this batch of leaders is especially warm and how amazing Exeter students are,” Baghadi commented.

With the Academy slowly transitioning into a post-pandemic state and a sense of normalcy being established once again, Thornton said, “after more than a year of having daily life and relationships being turned upside down, it's really exciting to be getting closer and closer to the same level of connections and togetherness that I felt before.”