Community Celebrates Academy Life Day
By CARRIE-ANNE CHAN, ETHAN DAI, AUDREY KIM, DANIEL LEE, JINMIN LEE, LAUREN LEE, and JAYDEN OH
On Sept. 17, Exonians took a day off from classes for Academy Life Day for their annual dorm-bonding activities. Some dorms chose to stay on campus, while others traveled by bus to places near the Academy. After their plans, each dorm hosted a dorm-wide lunch.
Taking advantage of the great weather over the first days of school, many dorms went to the beach, setting up different activities to encourage participation. Others went to arcades, corn mazes, and lazer-tag or even stayed on campus for a dorm-wide gym lift. For each activity, dorm faculty and proctors promoted team-building and introduced new and returning students to each other.
Many dorms conducted a variety of dorm-wide activities on the shore. “We had some fun at Jennesse Beach,” lower George Lyle, Abbot Hall resident, said. “We played spikeball, football, and did some racing.”
“We spent the pleasant afternoon on Salisbury Beach,” Instructor of English and Wheelwright dorm faculty Willie Perdomo said. “We communed with each other.”
“Cilley Hall went to Hampton Beach, and students could choose their own activities,” added upper Edward Wu. “I spent some good time reading Latin poetry with my friends while other students played football or jumped into the water.”
Senior Sophie Goldman in Gould House also went to the beach. “We planned for our dorm to compete in a pancake war in the morning and go to Hampton Beach in the afternoon. At the beach, many people were in the water or playing spike ball and volleyball in the sand.”
Other dorms stayed on campus or visited other places near campus. New Hall dorm faculty Ning Zhou said, “We went to Dave and Buster’s in Manchester, as we have done for the past three years. Students played arcade games, ate buffet lunch, and went shopping in the mall of the New Hampshire area.”
Lower Crane Lee recalled, “Wentworth played dodgeball in the ice rinks. We had a drafting session the night before where proctors divided up the teams. It was fun and rewarding as my team ranked high.”
“Ewald stayed on campus and went to the gym together,” upper Andy Song said. “Since everyone was off campus, we had the gym to ourselves, and we even played hide and seek in the athletics complex. We ended the day by playing basketball.”
Lower Ting-Ting Hsieh explained, “Moulton had crepes and orange juice brunch, then went to an escape room in Portsmouth. We chose to do the hardest escape room, so we could only get through the first room, but it was still lots of fun.”
“Front Street went to the bowling alley right down the street,” lower Leonardo Yang said. “We did nothing much but to bowl and hang around the bowling alley.”
“Langdell had to leave earlier from Hampton Beach to move into the school,” lower Maksym Gerbut said. “Still, some people ran, walked, and played ball along the beach.”
Prep Jesna Vernet from Amen Hall recalled, “We went to a corn farm, 30 or 45 minutes away, and had a little picnic there. The main event was that we went through a corn maze in little groups.”
Many students and faculty found Academy Life Day to be a great opportunity to bond with their dormmates. Goldman remarked, “I would rate it a nine or 10 out of 10. Although not everything went perfectly, some stores were closed, we were able to get our dorm to bond. Especially with many new students in Gould, we wanted to show them that Exeter isn’t just academic but can also be fun.”
“As most preps are still adjusting to this new environment,” prep Mallory Habistritt said. “Our beach trip helped us build community and boost morale in the first week of school.”
“Students had lots of fun competing with each other and trying to win prizes at the arcade,” Zhou said. “All the dorm faculty think it is a great way for the dorms to connect, integrate and get to know each other.”
Vernet added, “I talked to some people that I had not talked to before, which was an amazing positive. It was really enjoyable meeting new people, and it was a memorable experience on my first Academy Life Day.”
Lyle concurred, saying, “It’s a good way to give students a little break and let them have fun and learn new people when they’re there. It was pretty fun. We all had a good time.”
Kim described the group activities: “You meet new people, you make better friendships. It was a really good opportunity to bond with your fellow dorm citizens.” He further empathizes, “Those activities are left in your mind forever so you can remember.”
“This Academy Life Day was undoubtedly my favorite one,” Song said. “I bonded with many lowerclassmen because sports have the tendency to bring people together. Hide and seek also helped me meet new students.”
Hsieh added, “Although we weren’t able to complete the escape room, it was still really fun and allowed me to get closer to my other dorm mates from different grade levels.”
“We bonded a bit, and it was good because we had time for homework,” Yang said. “I don’t really spend time in my dorm, so this time, I was able to actually meet people in my dorm.”
Day student and prep Laurel Van de Water added, “Academy Life Day also helps [day students] get acquainted with your dorm much better than just kind of hanging around.”
However, some students affiliated with larger dorms found some difficulty bonding with the entire dorm. “At Webster, we have a lot of people in the dorm, so it’s tough to get to know everyone,” Kim noted. “We were in mini-groups and hanging out with each other.”
“For Wentworth, I found dodgeball to be a little difficult for much dorm bonding, and I didn’t meet that many people,” Craine agreed. “I also think Wentworth should try something new next year to change it up.”
Though some hope that their dorms will consider a change of scenery for their trip next year, all agree on the importance of the day and its positive impact on fostering relationships between residents of the dorm. For members of the Exeter community—students, dorm faculty, and other staff—Academy Life Day is a blissful respite from the hustle and bustle of everyday Exeter life.
