Academy Life Day Persists in Pandemic
By Anna Kim, Amy Lum and Audrey Zhang
This year’s rainy Academy Life Day (ALD) saw students come together for pumpkin carving, carnival games and meals in newly-opened dining halls. Unlike the Academy Life Days of years past, the Student Activities Office planned most of this year’s events, which occurred entirely on-campus. Despite the changes, Exonians made the most of their experience on this quintessential day.
Student Activities’ schedule for dorms lasted from 11a.m. to around 5p.m. Students carved pumpkins underneath the tent in Wetherall Quad, played games in the field house and enjoyed hot apple cider and donuts provided by Dining Services. Dorms were divided into small groups for the day’s activities.
While the Student Activities office planned almost all events, dorms had a two-hour free block for their own programming. Wentworth used the time to play mini golf in the gym, Hoyt decorated masks in the Elting Room and Dunbar watched a movie over Zoom.
Many dorm heads and proctors had to quickly adapt their dorm plans due to the changing weather. “I wound up having to change…. what we were going to do, but I think it went well. I really admire Ms. Lembo and Dining Services and all the work that all the teachers did to make it a fun day,” Kirtland dorm head Courtney Marshall said.
Many dorms also had to alter their usual Academy Life Day plans due to COVID-19 health restrictions. “Normally, Wentworth gets together, and we do a big dodgeball tournament inside the gym, which doesn’t work for many reasons because you don’t really stay socially distant in dodgeball because there’s contact with the balls [and] between people,” senior and Wentworth proctor Jack Puchalski said.
“One of the biggest challenges is finding... social distancing events where you don’t have to be in contact with each other,” Puchalski added. “We don’t want to have to deal with these things on Academy Life Day, but they’re definitely necessary to maintain community safety.”
Like other years, day students were encouraged to come to campus and experience Academy Life Day with their affiliated dorms. However, upper and Merrill proctor Kitty Coats mentioned how day student affiliates were not allowed to enter the dorms. “I was talking to a day stud [affiliated with] another dorm, and he was like, ‘Yeah, I’m just sitting outside in the rain, because my dorm went back inside to do some more like dorm bonding stuff, but I’m not allowed inside the dorm.’”
Dorms also had to develop ways to get remote students involved in the activities. “One of the ideas was giving them funds to treat themselves to a takeout meal on Lamont, like using normal funds because they can’t be here with us,” upper and Lamont proctor Christine Chung said. “We offered to FaceTime or Zoom with them while we were doing it. They didn’t seem very keen on the idea, which makes sense. Being shaken around on a camera with low connection probably isn’t the best way to connect the dorm.”
Despite weather- and COVID-related challenges, Marshall noted that ALD was “a fun day just to chill out and not worry about homework at least for a little bit. We need more of them.”
Overall, Chung is grateful for the Academy’s efforts. “I came into fall term really worried that COVID was going to change like everything—well, it kind of did change everything. But not in like an earth-shattering, life-ending, world-destroying way,” Chung said. “Things are happening. They’re happening kind of haphazardly . . . [but] they’re happening, and we’re trying our best.”