Why Do People Raise Their Hands at Assembly?
By CIARA O’NEILL ‘27
“Any Questions?”
Three kids stand up, and raise their hands. Every. Time. But why? Why is it always those three who ask questions during assembly? Why do the rest of us remain seated?
I decided to try to answer these questions of my own at Elm dining hall where I saw Andrew Gould, who had just asked a question at assembly the very same morning.
“When they bring in a speaker who I’m particularly interested in, or who is talking about a subject that I’m knowledgeable on, that’s when I’ll ask a question. I’m really interested in humanities, so that’s when I’ll ask a question. Usually if either a): they say something that I don’t really think is true, that I’m questioning, or b): they say something but they don’t actually fully elaborate on it and I think there’s more to say.” Now knowing the motivations behind the curiosity during assembly, I walked over to lower Jinmin Lee, who stated that he asks questions during assemblies because, “I think good ideas evolve when you challenge other people’s ideas, and the only way you’re going to do that is if you ask questions,” the lower explained.
One thing I was curious about was how frequent question-askers deal with people who roll their eyes everytime a hand goes up during assembly. On another hand, did they ever find their questions, or those of their friends, to be somewhat rude to the speaker? Lee stated that “I don’t think there’s anything such as a rude question.” The lower also clarified, “I think all questions have a genuine intention to come to a better understanding.”
Later, specifically 30 minutes before I was supposed to submit this article, I found Forrest Zeng in the Library Commons. He stated that, “The kind of people present at our assemblies are chosen for a reason, they’re chosen for students to understand better [the topic being discussed]. Asking questions in an extension of that.” To me, this seemed like his logic behind asking the questions validated the intelligence of the speakers, and created interaction between the audience and the presenter. A common criticism of the more inquisitive assembly-goers is the question of why they don’t visit the Elting Room.
A misconception that I had on my first day of writing this was that most people who asked questions during assembly, not specifically the people mentioned in this article, were just doing so to hear themselves talk. However, the people I interviewed were actually able to remember the specific answers to specific questions that they asked weeks before, suggesting, to me at least, that they were genuinely curious about what they were asking. As I walked back to my lunch table, Gould concluded with, “The whole idea of Exonians is that we should be strong, confident leaders…I would encourage more people to ask questions, if you have a question, ask one.”
Despite my skepticism at the beginning of this incredibly serious investigation, I actually discovered that I agree with most of what they were saying. I myself was not going to start raising my hand in assembly, but my mind has definitely changed from a negative outlook on intense curiosity during assembly to a more appreciative one. I don’t think everyone should feel like they have to speak during assembly, and would never judge people who use assembly as a mental break from the rigorous academic activity that Exeter requires. However, questions are the foundation of Harkness, and implementing these ideas that shape Exeter into an assembly that the whole school is in attendance of is a good thing, no matter how much homework it prevents me from doing.
