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Spring 20
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Table of Contents The Dogs of Hebron…
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Writing Contest Winners…
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The Stars A Blessing in Disguise
Current Events…
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Empathy & Joy Roblox Scandal More Than Just Warming
Personal Stories…
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Border Crossing Fail The Non-Stop Believers’ Journey to Believing The Fear of Others My Last Word
Opinion Pieces…
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The Day Student Experience at Hebron Academy Girls Sports The Fall’s Hate Speech Meeting, Revisited
Creative Writing…
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Glitch
Interviews… Boarding School’s Impact on Brain Development “An Island of Sanity”: An Interview with Mr. Phillips
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The Dogs of Hebron By Nora Tobey ‘24 Socrates AKA Socs Socs is a Bernese Mountain Dog and was adopted because the woman running a wilderness first aid course at Hebron said that “Berners” were great with kids, good for families, and make great family pets. Socrates is a big love bug, who doesn’t quite realize how big he is and he is terrified of Ms. Waterman's cat, Flicker, who doesn’t like him very much. He’s the first dog they’ve had as a family.
Oscar Oscar was adopted on New Year’s Day in 2019. According to DNA tests, he’s a mix of a lot of dogs, such as husky, mountain cur, Australian cattle dog, collie, coonhound, and golden retriever. Apparently he is also 15.6% supermutt, but no one really knows what that means. He is friendly towards people but is a bit more selective with his canine pals, which has apparently gotten him expelled from doggie day care before. He prefers spending the day on his many beds. He’s best friends with Bear and is enemies with all of the squirrels that are out of his reach.
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Maeve Maeve is a 13 year old Scottish Terrier who was rescued from a breeding puppy mill in the Midwest 8 years ago. For about three months, she spent most of her time hiding in a crate. She didn't know what stairs were, what grass felt like, and she thought mirrors were very odd and a little scary. She has learned to play, to walk on a leash (sort of) but refuses to learn how to sit, even though she’s smart enough to. She eats food very quickly and never leaves anything behind.
Bear Bear is Mr. Tholen’s Great Pyrenees, who can often be found lounging around LePage and outside the dining hall. He was given to him for free, but had digestive problems that resulted in a lot of veterinary bills. Mr. Tholen says that he’s the most expensive free dog ever.
Ozymandias AKA Ozzy Ozzy was adopted from Responsible Pet Care in South Paris in 2018. He’s most likely a mix of a pit bull and a boxer. According to Mr. Lundblade, Ozzy is pretty lazy and likes to nap in sunbeams coming through the window. And he gets very excited when he meets new people.
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Bow Bow is a rat terrier, and Ms. Kilian got him because she was interested in Dr. Swenton’s rat terrier Cocoa Bean. He’s always close to family and loves rotten tennis balls that he finds everywhere.
Wally Wally was from an all male litter of puppies found by Dr. Swenton and was 10 weeks old when he was adopted on February 9th of this year. The Gaugs weren’t given much information on him, other than the fact that he was part hound. They decided Hebron was the perfect place for a dog because of the trails and all the other dogs.
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The Stars
By Robert “Cotton” Strong ’23 - Writing Contest Winner The little white dog was born into a farm. The farmer living here didn’t need a whole litter of puppies, and so he gave most of them away. All the puppies went off with someone, and the little white dog ended up with a young man named Robert. Upon letting the dog roam freely, Robert quickly saw that the little dog enjoyed nothing more than running around in little circles, and so he started calling the little white dog Dizzy. Dizzy and Robert both loved going outside and exploring new things, so they quickly became great friends. Robert and Dizzy went along in life like this for many years, as partners in exploration, relaxation, and became beyond great friends. Soon, however, they were no longer alone in their adventures, as Robert met a woman who enjoyed many of the same things. This woman soon also became one of Dizzy’s great friends. The woman was followed by a boy. The boy was new to Dizzy, because he was about her size for quite some time. Though the boy couldn’t go outside and explore along with Dizzy for quite some time, Dizzy enjoyed having someone at her eye level for once, and so she and the boy soon became very close as well. Once the boy was able to move around like Robert and the woman, he could then go explore with Robert and Dizzy, and Dizzy enjoyed this very much. Not soon after this phenomenal development, again someone came into Dizzy’s life at her eye level, this time a girl. Suddenly, Dizzy was part of a complete family. After many years of exploring and playing, Dizzy was content. The boy and the girl could both go explore with Dizzy, and she was living her best life. In time, however, Dizzy started to notice she couldn’t see or hear the places she loved to explore as well. She also suddenly couldn’t keep up with Robert, the woman, the boy, or the girl when they went out of the house. This was okay, because the family could simply slow down for Dizzy or help her when she got confused. But in time, more changes came, and Dizzy could no longer explore freely. She could barely see or hear anything anymore. Her freedom was gone, but the family helped her the best they could. Eventually, Dizzy needed help getting up to get moving at all. Dizzy could still be content, because Robert kept her as comfortable as he possibly could. One night, Dizzy was with Robert and the woman. She was in Robert’s lap, at peace, drifting off into sleep. She could not be more content, though she could not see almost anything any more, she knew Robert and the woman were looking out into the sky at the stars, they had done it many times before. Dizzy had been living a confusing life for a while, but at this moment she had enough familiarity with her surroundings to be certain that she was in a good place. Then she went to sleep.
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A Blessing in Disguise
By Caden Dufour ’24 - Writing Contest Winner It was a warm summer day, I was just four years old, and the pool water was finally warm enough to swim in. I wasn't a good swimmer, but I could stay afloat for a couple of minutes without taking a break. However, my newly-found friend could not. The dog, which we almost named Lightning McQueen, already had a tough life before we got him. He was so tiny and filled with energy, but we realized when we got him home that he had tons of fleas and ticks; this quickly became a disaster. The dog was only supposed to be a temporary placement until it found its forever home, but he was sick and had already cost us thousands of dollars in medical bills. Now, I just threw him into the pool at only eight weeks old. He was drowning right in front of my eyes, but I was oblivious. This dog was dunking up and down for minutes, his nose barely above the water and bobbing back and forth, all while I thought he was swimming and having
fun. My dad was right around the corner when he saw what was happening. The dog was seconds from drowning, and he was saved by the bell. My family and I decided on the name Bruschi, a long-time Patriot and soon-to-be Hall-of-Famer, the man Teddy Bruschi. Teddy was an animal on the field and had the most intelligent football sense. He was able to call out coverages, read a play or a situation, and react in the right ways, always making and creating game-winning plays. You may be asking yourself, why am I talking about a football player, and how does it have any correlation to a dog? Bruschi (dog) is one of the most intelligent animals I’ve ever known, with his long, soft golden fur and
7 comfort them. Bruschi has a keen ability to communicate with humans without a single bark or noise. If he wants to go outside, he will simply walk and lay his head towards the door, waiting patiently for someone to let him out. He will pace by his bowl if he needs food, drawing enough attention to get fed. My grandmother was my dog's favorite person; she was constantly spoiling him with treats and car rides around the town to get fresh air. No one besides Bruschi could tell, but she was very sick with cancer. Bruschi was drawn to her, there was a connection between those two like no other. He started to act weird and overprotective for months before she even knew she had cancer. He would follow her everywhere she went. He would sit at the window to see where she was, sensing her arrival minutes before she would drive in. Playing fetch and giving kisses was reserved for only her; their special bond was unbreakable. Bruschi will not play fetch nor give kisses because he doesn't have his person anymore.
Empathy & Joy By Jakub Diakonowicz ’23
It all happened during spring break. I woke up not knowing what I’m going to do that day. I remember calling my friend and asking them to help me fight the boredom that day. All my Polish friends were in school so I was in my house all day. I was in the living room, watching “The Office” when Mom offered me to do voluntary work for Ukrainian refugees at the central train station. I said yes, not knowing what this experience would teach me. Right after my mom and I ate lunch we started driving toward the destination. I was shocked but at the same amazed. This might sound very confusing, but it will all make sense. When I entered the central station, which was empty last time I was there, it was full of not only refugees with no home but also volunteers. So many people also were standing in line to register as one, and there was me too. The next time I went there there wasn’t a line anymore but a form for six hours of voluntary work, with which they had much fewer volunteers. I remember standing in that line constantly getting surrounded by a multitude of people; both refugees and Poles. Once I got my vest and my tag I headed to walk around the station showing I can help, but one thing before I continue you need to remember I speak little to no Russian, just English and Polish.
8 Luckily the first person that I helped was speaking English to me. She was asking for directions out of Warsaw by bus. I directed her to a station with transportation details. This was mainly my job just walking around the big station and directing people if needed help. I knew upstairs was intended as a sleep zone but I had access to it as a volunteer, therefore I went there. Once I got up I walked around and saw many types of people, rich and poor, sick and healthy. One kid came up to me “Ty gavarisz pa Ruski?” I panicked because it was Russian, but I have heard this before it meant if I speak Russian, sadly I said no, but little did I know that I got along with him while Polish is very similar to it. In short, the boy was asking If I could help him with a problem; the problem was a Polish refugee from Ukraine who didn’t have a place to stay (I didn’t know that then and to this day I’m not sure), and sat in the place where his mom was sitting because she went to the bathroom. I said “Przepraszam (Excuse me)” because I saw he used the Polish language on his phone, and explained the situation to him. Unfortunately, the grown man, with tears in his eyes, looked up at me and I assumed what I said before; he doesn’t have a place to stay. He said he has a train to catch the next day in the morning, and as he said that his mom came back, and luckily she spoke Polish so I explained the situation again. The woman was very nice and told me I can go and not to worry about it, so I left. I went back downstairs and for a bit, I was again just directing people.
“When I entered the central station, which was empty last time I was there, it was full of not only refugees with no home but also volunteers. So many people also were standing in line to register as one, and there was me too.” After a while, I went to the store to buy some Kinder chocolate bars for the refugees. I handed them, the moment I exited the store I was handing them. I made a lot of people happy, I remember one of them shouting at me to get attention because I accidentally skipped them. I headed back downstairs but someone interrupted me beforehand. A Russian Lady yelled “Trzymaj”, a direct translation is ‘hold it!’ but Russian is a type of language in which it’s typical and not rude. I carried it and walked behind her into the pregnant and new mothers section. I didn’t know if I was allowed in there so I told the two young girls that were in front of the entrance that I’m just entering for a second and they nodded and laughed. Once I entered the section I saw multiple pregnant women and newborns, but one thing got my attention. A woman surrounded by two medics, I assumed she was giving birth because her body was beneath a blanket and a medic was under it. I still believe she was giving birth although my parents say it’s not likely. This experience has taught me a lot about people, ways to help them in poor conditions. It also gave me perspective on empathy with other people. I learned about different cultures.
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Roblox Scandal By Jake Paderewski ’23
In November of 2021, one of the most profitable companies in the world filed a 1.6 million dollar lawsuit against a Youtube creator by the name of Ruben Sim. The company claimed that Sim made terrorist threats in October of 2021 to shut down the Roblox Developers Conference. The lawsuit described his activities as leading a “cybermob,” in which he would actively attempt to influence people to make terroristic, racist, and homophobic comments. Roblox also declares that Sim performed sexual acts through the platform. Having said this, the multi-million dollar company has no proof of any hate crime this alleged Youtuber has committed. After filing the lawsuit, Sim uploaded the first of a three-part series defending his name. In the video, he explains why Roblox would try to sue him, as well as how many of the claims are misleading or outright lies. He told the viewer that yes, he did “troll” on Roblox, but it was an attempt to make people look in-depth at the platform. Like many others, he noticed lots of children being manipulated by older users. Many would use the children to build their hubs, but give the children none of the profit made from said creations. Along with free labor, an alarming amount of these people were preying on the children, having them send explicit photos or even attempt to meet up with them. Sim, wanting to protect the community, began to take action in an attempt to bring light to the situation. Many of the other claims, such as the hate speech, was his fan base’s own doing. He banned many of his viewers who partook in the activities, as he openly shared his disapproval of their actions. The allegation stating that Sim performed sexual acts through the platform is also false. What he did was share with his viewers proof that one of Roblox’s social media managers, who often makes appearances in the company’s livestreams, ran a pornography blog. After this was revealed, Roblox went on to say that they “do not have any concern for what goes on outside of their platform.” After receiving backlash from the public, Roblox has taken actions to stop these harmful behaviors from happening.
“Roblox Logo.” Roblox, https://blog.roblox.com/2017/01/introducing-our-next-generation-logo/. Accessed 14 May 2022.
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More Than Just Warming By Forest Pelletier ’23
Anthropogenic climate change and other human-caused ecological disturbances occurring around the world are often misunderstood. As a result of their complexity, and the sheer scale of their effect, they are often simplified to a couple of main points that can lead to people misunderstanding the weight they have on our planet and our species, as well as the difficulty of solving numerous problems without leaving holes in the solution or creating new problems. With this—and the recent release of the new IPCC report, which includes possible solutions to some of the most urgent issues—in mind, this paper comes as a tool to aid in strengthening your understanding of the issues at hand. First, let's talk about greenhouse gasses and the effect of an increase in global temperatures. Carbon dioxide is often what makes the headlines, and for good reason. It is one of the multiple greenhouse gasses that is having its presence in the atmosphere dramatically increase. Now, what is the problem with greenhouse gasses? Greenhouse gasses absorb some of the thermal energy of the sun, rather than letting it reflect back into space. Generally this is a good thing, as it helps maintain livable temperatures. But as we produce vast amounts of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane at a much higher rate than what can be absorbed by living creatures, it causes an increase in the average global temperature. Currently, it is estimated that the average global temperature has increased by one-degree Celsius since 1880.
11 One degree may not seem like much, but there are many spikes, especially during heat waves like the record-breaking one in British Columbia in 2021, in which parts of the province reached 121 degrees Fahrenheit. Beyond just a rise in temperature, there are many ways these emissions affect our environment. One very important example is a change in the weather. As our emissions grow, our weather becomes more severe and sporadic in a variety of ways such as more common droughts, rainfall that comes in bigger but less frequent storms, more tornadoes and hurricanes, more mudslides, and more wildfires. The change in temperature and weather along with our massive modifications of the land to suit our needs have had a massive impact on the other species that live on our planet, leading to a much faster rate of extinction of species, as well as a drop-in biodiversity. Not to mention that these are not all of the many ways we have caused this drop. Just to name a few others, we have large scale hunting and overfishing of certain species, the massive amount of pollutants and waste we put out that affects not only organisms' health but ours, and the massive amount of carbon dioxide the ocean takes in as carbonic acid, leading to a large increase in acidity which is hard to tolerate by many species. On top of all this, the increased temperature expands water molecules and causes faster melting of polar ice caps as well as glaciers. These two factors combine to form the rise in sea levels many people worry about. On top of all this, the loss of glaciers and lower snowfall means a dramatic decrease in the amount of water flowing down from the mountains and surrounding areas, which is the lifeline of many everyday people, farmers, and ecosystems. So what needs to be done to lower our emissions? Well, there are many contributing factors to our emissions, like the creation of cement, and methane from animal farms. All of which require changes to our infrastructure and our habitats, especially those of us in countries like America where our consumption leads to a much higher footprint on an individual level. However, the blame for who should change falls on the organizations, communities, and governments that must cause a change in the large-scale action. The biggest stepping stone to solving the issue is lowering the emissions of the energy sector. The extraction, production, and transportation of energy produce the largest amount of greenhouse gasses and influence many of the other producers of greenhouse gasses. What's the way to lower these emissions? Making renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, hydropower, nuclear, and others the dominant energy source. Good news! With advances in technology and production, it is cheaper than ever with the cost of solar energy going down by 85%, wind energy by 55%, and lithium batteries used in electric vehicles by 85% (Simon Lewis 2022). There are still problems, because of the methods of their energy production it is difficult to store energy produced to be used in times of need or at times of low production such as at night with solar panels. One way of doing so is with lithium batteries, the problem is lithium is not a common resource and if used on a mass scale for electric cars and the batteries for energy factories, we could very well run out of lithium on earth because of the mass amounts that would be needed for the factories. Currently, there is a steady progress of research and testing for alternative storage methods as well as alternative power sources like hydrogen, which uses electrolysis to create energy to power vehicles and could be a major clean energy vehicle given the right infrastructure and fine tuning of technology to allow for easy refill and efficient use of energy with low risk of issues.
12 This is all just the tip of the iceberg to the problems we face, and the solutions we may use in the future. As the issues from anthropogenic climate change become more and more obvious, it is important to be informed in order to better understand what is at stake and what can be done. The huge list of problems may be depressing to look at, but it is vital to not take on a view that we are doomed no matter what, as we still can fix this, and so we should hold onto hope in order to best combat the issue. Work Cited IEA (2021), Net Zero by 2050, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050 , Full report: https:// iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/beceb956-0dcf-4d73-89fe-1310e3046d68/NetZeroby2050ARoadmapfortheGlobalEnergySector_CORR.pdf
Lewis, S. (2022, April 6). Scientists have just told us how to solve the climate crisis – will the world listen? . The Guardian. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/06/scientists-climatecrisis-ipcc-report Lindsey, R., & Dahlman, L. (2021, March 15). Climate change: Global temperature. Climate Change: Global Temperature | NOAA Climate.gov. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.climate.gov/news-features/ understanding-climate/climate-change-globaltemperature#:~:text=The%20roughly%202%2Ddegree%20Fahrenheit,significant%20increase%20in%20accumulate d%20heat National Highways. (2021, July 16). Net-zero highways. National Highways England. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://nationalhighways.co.uk/netzerohighways/
Surrealist Landscape of Sturtevant: "Divine Education" by Colby MacCheyne
Digital Drawing of London: "London" by Vanessa Ruiz Reyna
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Digital Drawing of Cancun: "Cancun" by Alex Castillo
Surrealist Landscape of Treat: "Groundhog Day est. 1804" by Jasper Curtis
Surrealist Landscape w/ Carlos: "Train to Somewhere" by Elesh Anthony
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Border Crossing Fail By Kaan Uslular ’23
Everyone has a tough and unforgettable memory in their life, undoubtedly. However, after some time when we dream about those challenging days, we realize they were one of the best times of our lives. I want to tell you about a memory that is difficult, but later I realized that it is a memory that I will never forget in my life. I’ve learned that true friendships are made in tough times. The winter break plan was shaped for me and Ms. Nadeau’s biology class. My lovely classmate Pierre invited me to his house for Christmas. It was definitely an intense feeling of happiness. He is one of my best friends, and he is just an absolute soft-hearted friend. After a while, everything was all set for us. We made all our plans to go with him to Quebec, Canada. At the beginning there were no problems about this amazing Christmas break but for me there were little bumps in the road. I’m from Turkey, and I needed a visa to get into Canada. I trust my international visa because I’m a student in the US, and my passport is going to solve any problem at the border. I had Plan A, which is to not find any inaccurate situations and I’ll just go to Pierre’s house smoothly. Plan B is a little bit problematic one. It is possible that I’ll not be able to cross the border. To summarize the situation, I am a redundant positive person and that's not always a good thing. Greta, Pierre and I hopped into a little car on a sunny Sunday. After a very sweet journey, I realized that the best conversations occur on long journeys. We passed through very dark and snowy roads, and we arrived at the Canadian border. I had little goosebumps when the officer was checking my passport because mine was the only one he gazed at for a long time. I was a little scared and the man said pull forward and wait. This was the time I realized I needed to get ready for Plan B. That scary and unwanted scenario happened. I didn’t know what to do, who to call or what to say. Thank God, I had my best friends in that car. They dropped me off at a tavern back into town. Luckily they gave me free cold chili there. They just felt badly for me and they were also sad for me (photo is from in front of the tavern). Last but not least, there are two very important key people here. It wouldn’t be a lie if I said they saved my life. Ms. Carton and Mr. Lundblade. Without their help, I wouldn’t have gotten back to campus and gone to my uncle.
15 That was an unforgettable life lesson for me. Maybe things that felt painful at the time, prepares you for other steps in life. I cannot repay Pierre’s, Greta’s, Ms.Carton’s and Mr. Lundblade’s sacrifice. I am just grateful for these amazing people and for having experienced that meaningful memory. Daily life is harsh, and most of us constantly seek escape from it in fantasies and dreams.
The Non-Stop Believers’ Journey to Believing By Jasper Curtis ’22
Nothing is more difficult than trying to get six teenagers to compromise with each other. It is rare that 100% of them will agree on something. You will be lucky if you get them to even decide on a time to meet together. But do not even bother with getting them to all agree on a song they enjoy. They will all have songs that they want and will listen to no other suggestions. You can consider it a success if two of them agree on a song by chance. This was the case for the Hebron Academy rock band. We met up in the beginning of the year, filled with energy and excitement to perform for the winter concert. We split up into two groups and the future seemed hopeful. It seemed hopeful for about a week, until it came to decide the song we were going to play. We never let our arguments become personal and we never resented each other for our song opinions, but deciding a song and sticking with it was quite the process. However, the stars aligned, as we did, when we chose “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey to perform for the winter concert. Practice leading up to the concert was anxietyinducing for us all. The fear of letting everyone down was constantly looming over our heads. Weeks sped by faster than I could blink, and in no time, the concert was right around the corner. Was I prepared? Probably. Did I feel ready? No, I did not. As the bassist for the band, I felt particularly responsible for being the anchor for all the other musicians when we played; the cloud of doubt particularly gray over me. Gray quickly became a dark thundering storm as the day of the concert was
16 upon us. But the clouds dissipated when we practiced all together, one last time, hours before performing. I was struck with invigorated confidence, a shock that went through our whole group. Our newly formed band name, as silly as it was, truly encapsulated our newfound hope: The Non-Stop Believers. For we non-stop believed that we would truly shred with all we had; even when the curtain was pulled and lights beamed down onto us, as the crowd fell into a silence, before our drummer counted us in. “When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest” - Henry David Thoreau. The rush of performing with my friends is a feeling I have never experienced before. It is indescribable, similar to how indescribable the feeling of music is. It is a moment of grace, friendship and believing that I have cherished since and would never change. I am grateful for my friends in The Non-Stop Believers and I am thankful that I get to play alongside such talented musicians.
The Fear of Others By Abrielle Johnson ’23
Seven A.M., the alarm goes off. I get out of bed and look in the mirror, and the motivational quotes my mother makes for me hang on the edges of it. “You are enough.” No I’m not. “You are smart.” Hardly. “Think positive!” Easy for you to say. You’re just a piece of paper. Anyways, it was time for school. Sitting in the classroom was worse than sitting in solitary confinement for me. My ears heard everything, and my eyes saw just as much. All the students talking and laughing with each other made me anxious. What if they’re talking about me? I see someone glance at me while talking to a friend. They’re one hundred percent talking about me. I close my eyes. As soon as I do, my thoughts consume me. “Why are you closing your eyes?” Because I can’t stand to look at people. “That’s weird. You’re really weird.” No I’m not. “Yes, you’re weird. Now they’re all talking about how weird you are.” My thoughts then got interrupted by the teacher walking in and starting the class. Thank God. At lunch, things got worse. I sat with a couple close friends, but I don’t usually socialize a lot in cafeterias. They already give me enough sensory overload. I don't need the stress of trying to talk about relevant situations on top of that. I take a bite of my sandwich, and a girl taps my shoulder. “Post-It Notes.” Global Success Academy, https://theglobalsuccessacademy.com/79-practical-toolsfor-motivating-yourself/. Accessed 11 May 2022.
17 “Why are you eating like that?” she asks. This question shot me right in the chest with a dagger. “What do you mean?” I asked the girl. She just giggled and shook her head, telling me “nevermind.” What? I quickly got up and ran to the bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror and pretended to chew something. Nothing seemed off about it though. I dug my head into my hands which was probably a mistake because it gave more room for the thoughts to pop back into my head. “Now everyone knows you chew weird.” I shook my head and looked back in the mirror. “They don't,” I said out loud. “They do.” My reflection spoke back to me. “They all thought you were weird before, now imagine how much weirder they think you are,” my reflection said in a harsh tone. Tears formed in my eyes. My reflection laughed. “Are you seriously crying? Over the fact that someone said you eat weird?” She asked me. “I am not the one making a big deal about it, you are!” I shouted. The bathroom went silent. Someone then walked in and gave me a weird look before entering a stall behind me. My reflection just shook her head at me and I stormed out of the bathroom. After the day had ended, I was laying in my bed staring at the ceiling. Things that had happened literally over seven hours ago still spiraled around my brain. The classroom and loud chatter that made me feel self conscious. The cafeteria and random girl asking why I was eating like that. The bathroom and my fight with myself. I wish I didn’t fight with myself. I wanted to like myself but it’s really hard when you can’t stop being your own biggest bully. I let these negative thoughts swirl around my brain until I finally let myself drift off to sleep after three agonizing hours. I was only ten years old. The next day would be the same. And the next. It was an endless repeat of never being able to escape myself. Most of the students carried heavy backpacks with many textbooks and homework, but the heaviest thing I have always had to carry, my whole life, was my anxiety. It was the never ending fear of being rejected or an outcast. As the years went by, I luckily got the help I needed. Even to this day though, I still struggle with these thoughts and am always still arguing with myself about small things that shouldn’t matter. Despite my suffering, my disorder has taught me something. You can never let what other people think control your life. Just because one person thinks something doesn’t mean everyone else does. We all have struggles and we all project those struggles on each other. I just hope one day all of humanity will realize this kind of behavior within ourselves and try to change it for the better.
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My Last Word By Lili-Marie Schmidt ’22
I am white. I am German. I am European. I am passing as European. I am a citizen of the EU. I am from a city. I am from a democracy. I am a native German speaker. I am an English speaker. I am cis. I am a non-religious Christian. I am a child of academics. I am middle-class. I am ablebodied. I am healthy. The list of my privileges is endless. I haven't done anything to influence any of these characteristics. Yet, there are millions of experiences of discrimination I will never have to deal with due to my privileges. I couldn’t and I don’t need to state all of them. You know about them. Instead, I am up here on this stage holding my last word. During this year I have had countless unique moments, and have probably gained more life experience than in any year before this. Yet, there is one question I could not get out of my mind. How do I deserve to be here? Why am I here? Why didn’t the girl from a small town in Sri Lanka get my bed at this school? She has to walk miles to get to school every day and after school she helps her mom with their four goats and three cows. Her school consists of one run-down building with two rooms, where she is taught with first through sixth graders. I didn’t make the existence of this girl up. I met her. How do I deserve to be here and not her? According to the UN, one out of five children between the ages of six and seventeen do not have access to education at all. I am just lucky that I am not one of them. I am here because ASSIST and Hebron have given me an academic scholarship for this year, without which I would not be here. In Germany I was never bad at school. I always kept good grades, but so did so many other kids from so many other countries. So that is not why I ended up here. The reason I am here is due to the fact that I was born into a country that provides free education for everyone. It is due to the fact that my parents want me to succeed and help me do so. It is due to the fact that society wants me to succeed. It is due to the fact that I barely face social inequality or discrimination. I am not trying to say I didn’t do anything to get here, but there were a million other factors that helped me get here that I didn’t influence. It was pure luck, a mere coincidence, that I was born in Munich with parents who would and could do anything for me. I could have been born at the exact same moment in a totally different setting, in a township in South Africa, in a hospital in Afghanistan or as that girl in Sri Lanka and my life would have taken a very different turn.
19 Realizing this makes my Hebron experience even more valuable to me. I do not take it for granted that I get this additional opportunity, but going to Hebron puts me in an even better position for my future life. Hebron and its community have shaped me for a lifetime. I have come to a level of independence, from which I will benefit for the rest of my life. Thanks to the international community at Hebron, I have learned a lot about other customs, countries and cultures. I have made friends from all over the world, which I consider the greatest gift I will take away from Hebron.
Yet, there is one question I could not get out of my mind. How do I deserve to be here? Why am I here? Why didn’t the girl from a small town in Sri Lanka get my bed at this school? Thank you Bea for taking me to your house when I got Covid and tried, but failed, to infect you as well; for picking me up from the train station in the middle of the night because I missed my train, and for teaching me how to snowboard, for which I realized I have little to no talent. Thank you Linn for missing your flight to Hebron because you waited for me. Thank you Linn and Kuba for sharing the smallest hotel rooms of New York City with me. And then there is Greta. Thinking back to when I first met Greta in the fall she seemed to be very shy. I am certain that she was a lot shorter than me and about three years younger than now. Greta managed to change my first impression of her very quickly. Thank you Greta for being so brutally honest, random, and funny. Thank you Nasra for coming to my room to say goodnight every evening. Thank you Emilio for our conversations. Thank you Dana for always being there for me. Thank you Kaan, Kuba, Calvin, DeMarco, Linn, Greta and Nola for making MUN in New York unforgettable! Thank you Ms. Stokes, Mr. Gautier, Dr. Swenton, Mr. Lundblade, Mx. Dube, Ms. Carton and all other Hebron teachers and Hebron staff for welcoming me with open arms. I honestly never got homesick during this year thanks to all of you who made Hebron my new home. Even though the American culture still seems to be a little bit strange to me sometimes, I think I have come to understand where American beliefs are coming from. Hebron has helped me to comprehend the US and the world a great deal better. Hebron has brought me further on my journey to discover what I want to do and what’s important for others and for myself. I still don’t understand how I deserve to be up here today. Yet, I believe that using my privileges—using our privileges— to make other people more privileged is the least thing I—we— can do, because I have nothing to complain about in my life. Thank you, Hebron!
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The Day Student Experience at Hebron Academy By Sylvie Gill ’26
In many ways, being a day student at Hebron Academy is a lot different from being a boarding student. There are both challenges and benefits. I am a day student and know it can be quite hard sometimes to juggle school and home life. I interviewed Louisa, also a day student, who mentioned it can be a challenge dealing with the homework load after getting home late from dance practice. This is particularly true when assignments are posted late, and there were earlier opportunities in the day to do homework. Brennan Pike said he often feels out of the loop because, unlike boarders who live at Hebron, he commutes to school everyday and sometimes feels like he misses out. Belle Beauchesne told me: “It can be hard to make connections with boarding students when not on campus all the time and when you cannot attend weekend activities.” It can also be hard for day students to get help with schoolwork, since teachers are only available for extra help during the school day or to those who are on campus after the academic day is over. Last minute or surprise events can also be hard for day students. Brennan Pike said, “Since day students can not just go back to their dorms to get a change of clothes or the appropriate shoes, we often miss out.” Also, day Students often have previous commitments outside of school which cannot be missed. An example of this was Mountain Day, which was not officially announced until late at night when some day students were already asleep. Getting to school the next day without your snow gear and skis to find out the whole school is headed to the mountain, just doesn’t sit well. Most of the people I interviewed said there are many benefits to being a day student as well. Belle Beauchesne says she likes being able to go home and see her family everyday. Brennan Pike said he likes being a day Student because he can do what he wants in his free time and is able to have his own rules. When you are a day student, you can get a paying job during the school year. Also, getting your driver's license is a lot easier. Though it can be hard to get help from teachers, day student’s parents may be available to help you. Belle Beauchesne said, “The teachers at Hebron are very understanding, willing to help in any way they can and recognize that day students' schedules are often very busy.” All the day students I interviewed said that even though they get home between, 4:00pm - 9:00pm, they all are still able to get about eight hours of sleep a night. There are many challenges and advantages of being either a day student or a boarding student at Hebron Academy. While there is room for improvement to better balance the schedule and curriculum to benefit both day students and boarders, most of the day students I interviewed are relatively happy with their situation at Hebron Academy.
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“Untitled” by Lillybeth Randall
(Below) Digital Portrait of Sierra Leone 1929: by Nora Tobey
(Above) Digital Portrait of Sierra Leone: by Kali Salazar Perez
(Above) Digital Portrait of Sierra Leone: by Jack Ngo
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Girls Sports By Julia Gregory ’22
“Girls' sports are so boring,” “You play like a girl,” “I’m not going, it’ll be lame.” I’ve heard these comments constantly throughout all of high school. My freshman year, I was surprised that no one showed up to support, but by my senior year, I’m now surprised if people show up at all. That reality is sad, disheartening, and does not encourage younger girls to play sports. Having to constantly hear how girls' sports are inferior, and how boys are always better is quite simply ludicrous. Society has created these absurd gender norms that you conform to as soon as you’re born. We associate color with genders, so instantly we’re put into a box. Blue or pink. Girls are expected to do either dance, gymnastics, or something more “feminine,” while boys are expected to be playing “masculine” sports. Society treats girls like these fragile glass boxes that are doomed to shatter if we push them too far, yet boys are plastic boxes meant to get scratched, dirty, and pushed to their breaking point. The first time I ever experienced shame for being a girl was in first grade. Every recess we would play kickball, and one boy in my grade whiffed on one of his kicks. This elicited the response “you kick like a girl.” My heart sank, rage pulsed through me, and in that moment all I felt was anger. As the anger subsided, it was replaced with confusion. Why? Why was it bad to kick or throw like a girl? I can kick and throw just as far as half of the guys out here. It made no sense. The inequalities between male and female sports are quite obvious. It starts right with appearance. There are multiple female sports that have a skirt in their uniforms, such as lacrosse, tennis, and field hockey. Upon research into this topic, the only real answer I could get is that skirts were worn because of tradition, so basically because they’ve always worn skirts. All this does is reaffirm the belief that girls are meant to sit up straight like ladies and always be and dress properly. Women are meant to act gracefully, and to leave the heavy lifting to the men. Now, on a good note, there are many lacrosse teams that have now switched to wearing shorts or allowing the option to wear shorts. This is progress, not equality.
23 This past year, in anatomy class with Mr. Vining, we explored concussions and statistics about concussions. I found a statistic that girls are four times more likely to sustain a concussion than boys. I presented this to the class, and Mr. Vining brought up the subjectiveness of that statistic. It’s a societal norm for boys to “tough it out.” They don’t want to be seen as weak, and having an injury could make them appear that way. It wasn’t that girls are more susceptible to concussions, it was that they are more likely to report an injury. This further supports the preposterous stereotype that girls need to be treated as those fragile glass boxes. The actual reality is that the toxic masculinity found within sports is causing boys to appear tougher when they’re just being naive. They are probably unaware that suffering multiple blows to the head without properly recovering can lead to major brain damage and memory loss. This isn’t about how they appear, this is about life and death. This is not an attack on the male-identifying population, but rather the perspective of the female athlete. An outside view of their internal expectations. I empathize with them and their expectations. They are always expected to get right back up and “tough it out,” and that must be both physically and mentally taxing. My goal is to bring awareness to the inequality and inconsistent expectations surrounding male and female sports. Because awareness elicits education, which can lead to change.
The Fall’s Hate Speech Meeting, Revisited By Robert “Cotton” Strong ’23
In October of 2021, the Hebron Academy community met to discuss the impact of hate speech and bullying at our school. This came in response to an incident in which a student wrote a racist, homophobic, and hateful message online directed at both students and teachers. For this event, human rights educator Steve Wessler was invited to speak and instructed students to think about how our words affect others, and how the whole community could work to better itself. The presentation and small-group conversations were meant to be a kind of healing event for the community, and Mr. Wessler did bring up several important points about empathy and compassion, with many walking away feeling as though their eyes were opened. However, some students felt that it was as productive as it was intended to be. To find out what the Hebron community really thought about this event, I recently asked several students for their thoughts and opinions on the workshop. While I was expecting the responses to be at least somewhat mixed, a majority did not find the meeting to be a positive experience. While many community members enjoyed parts of the meeting, specifically when students were invited to stand up and share their own experiences, many students thought it was simply a waste of time. “It feels like most of [the student body]
24 didn’t need to hear this. And the rest of us, the ones that needed to hear it, just didn’t listen” said one student. Many students echoed this same idea that the students that may benefit from learning about respect, empathy, and acceptance, simply chose not to take this workshop seriously. Another student, who thought the meeting was actually a step in the wrong direction, said “I think it was a waste of time, and it turned into an unnecessary joke.” Some students also feel that their time being spent on this activity was unjust to them. “It was a group punishment for the actions of one person . . . As someone who was once severely bullied, it is the worst thing for me to hear someone who hasn't been a highschool student in twenty-five years tell me about bullying . . . I would rather focus on my classes, not gonna lie.” Some students also believe that this event speaks to a larger problem at the school. In the past, many students, faculty, and alumni have spoken about problems of respect at Hebron, as well as the lack of diversity among the faculty and student body. Most notably, in 2020, a petition was created asking the school to reconcile several issues of accountability and racial inclusivity in the community. The petition outlined several specific points to help the school grow, including diversifying the faculty, investing time and resources into the respect team, updating the Albert Lepage Center for diversity and inclusion, changes to class curriculums to further include black voices, creating more scholarship opportunities for non white students, and more. Only two of these points have been met: the school provided literature from black authors for the next year’s all school read, and Mr. Ruiz has recently been named director of the Albert Lepage center for diversity and inclusion, stating his goal was to help people “understand that all individuals are entitled to be treated with dignity and integrity and afforded opportunities.” To many students, it feels as though many of the other goals have been ignored. When students don’t see the school taking steps towards inclusion, but have to take a day to discuss acceptance and hate speech, some people feel as though the school is avoiding making tangible changes. “It feels like this school will do literally anything except make a genuine attempt to diversify the student body or faculty” said a student. Another stated “It was a school effort to appear to do something while achieving nothing, but it at least was theoretically moving in the right direction.” Several teachers pointed out that some actions are not seen by students. Citing work the school has done to educate students and faculty on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice, as well as the fact that this work has lost the school multiple donations from rich alumni, teachers feel that some of the sacrifices and effort the school has made have gone under appreciated. The school has made steps in the right direction in terms of diversity, inclusion, and acceptance over recent years. However, some of the student body appears to believe that the school should not use meetings or workshops like the one in October to solve problems, but instead make actual, material, change. Most think steps like bringing in some more diverse faculty members, reaching out to marginalized communities for financial aid opportunities, or bringing back the respect team may help the student body regain confidence in the administration and grow the Hebron community in amazing ways. However, some faculty members will tell you that these steps are not as simple as they might sound. Either way, everyone hopes that the school and the student body will learn from past experiences, either as a result of growth-based meetings that open our eyes to issues in our behavior, or by looking back on some of the failings of the school in the past.
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Glitch
By Sara Levy ’23 The darkness is unsettling. It’s throughout and inside me. It fills my eyes and mouth, and I can’t see, I don't know what it is, but I can't see. The steps downstairs are in my head, because no one is awake to be the source of them. My sister is snoring beside me in her bed, deep in her sleep, lost in her mind, unaware of what’s around. There’s white pearls staring at her, they’ve seen me, too, but the main objective is the person in the bed beside mine. If I turn on the light the shadows that trick my eyes will vanish, but right here, right now, the eyes are staring at me. The creak from a door is a noise from outside, the wind knocking on my window is as natural as the moonlight creeping in from the curtains. And I can’t breathe and I lack air, there’s no place to
I think I’m scared.
I think I’m scared.
I think I’m scared.
I think I’m scared.
I think I’m scared.
I think I’m scared.
run and no place to hide and I can feel the beating of my heart drumming in my ears and pumping my blood and I can’t do anything about everything. I need to get out of the room, I'm trapped inside and the lack of light plays tricks with my eyes. The door is open when I get to it. Standing behind me there’s a presence and it makes my hands shake; it’s looking at me but there’s nothing behind me, the breathing in my nape is the air coming through the closed windows. Because when I turn around there is nothing but my sister sleeping in her bed. My mind’s playing tricks on me.
26 Outside is as dark as inside, and swaying in the swing can’t calm me right now, not when I turn my head around. The music in my ears deprives me of the steps around me, but there’s no one around me. Every time I see something move out of the corner of my eye there’s nothing when I take a better look at it, the walls, the trees, the houses, the couches, the flowers. Everything and nothing surrounding me. The constant sway can’t stop me from looking at the smiling flowers. White flowers bunching around each other, separating in the middle and forming, what looks like, a pair of eyes. The rest of the flowers curl below the circles above, a smiling face made of flowers. The flowers are smiling and it looks like a ghost is behind it, observing me. It feels like a timer and the clock’s ticking. What am I scared of if there is nothing around me? I’m not scared of dying, I know it’s something that’ll eventually come, I’m not scared of anyone around me, I’m not scared of the dark, or flowers, or shadows, or noises. I’m not scared. I'm not scared, I'm not, but the flowers keep smiling and the shadows keep watching every movement I make. Everytime I look around, something moves, nothing moves. And now being outside seems like a worse idea than upstairs in my room. There’s a pit in my stomach and it’s deeper than the wide, opened door. I had closed it, I closed it when I left. Both beds are empty when I turn to look at them and there’s talking beside me. It lags like a machine and it has my sister’s voice behind the glitch. I don’t want to turn around, I don’t want to see what’s inside. I’m trembling, my whole body is shaking, and my eyes move towards the nonexistent sound. I can’t wake up from this nightmare. Not when I turn around and see my sister’s beaten body with an unnatural smile on its face. The eyes melting down and the smile widening across its face. It’s a glitch, I don’t know what it is, but the body in front of me is glitching. The voice never stops and it says my name. I think I’m scared.
Boarding School’s Impact on Brain Development By Louisa Strong ’26
According to numerous scientific studies, boarding for middle schoolers (especially those aged ten and eleven) could run the risk of being very detrimental towards the boarder's mental health longterm. Higher rates of social and study-related anxiety were noticed in boarding students rather than day students, as well as learning anxiety (Ma et al). Do these studies play out in real life here at Hebron? One faculty member on campus suggested that good experiences of boarding could outweigh the negative studies, and maybe the more positive results of boarding were not what the researchers were looking for. So, five middle school boarding students were interviewed to find out more about the impact of boarding on their everyday life as well as their mental health (not all of the students interviewed wanted their names used in this article).
27 For all of the interviewees, Hebron is the first boarding school that any of them have attended, and they all came here because their parents wanted them to, but the students all thought that this was a good decision. For Daniel Salinas Valdes, coming to Hebron has improved his mental health because of the consistent in-person learning and activities, whereas the pressure of good grades and performance is starting to get to other students. In fact, many HAMS classmates said that their mental health has remained mostly unchanged since boarding at Hebron, but that their relationship with their parents has definitely altered. Four of the five students interviewed feel that they are more distant emotionally from their parents now that they are so far away from them. This makes sense because they went from seeing their parents every day to seeing them a few times a year. There was only one exception to this general feeling of distance: that student said that now that she is away from her parents, she wants to fill them in on her life all the time. Another big question was the issue of friends. Would being in a new environment spark new and better friendships? The answer is complicated. Almost everyone had to take some time to figure out which place provided the best friendships for them, and the majority answer was at home. Though many feel more themselves when they are back where they are from, they still recognize that their friends at Hebron are supportive and special. After being presented with some of the studies’ research, the students gave their opinion on how boarding can affect mental health. Wolfie Egan thinks that for sixth-graders and younger, boarding school could be unhealthy. Daniel Salinas Valdes expressed a similar opinion that boarding school should start from ages fourteen and up because younger students might not be mature enough to handle being away from their parents. One study did show that highschoolers were not met with the same mental struggles from boarding as middle schoolers (Ma et al), so his fourteen and up theory makes sense. Andrea Puszkar Hesselman pointed out that boarding when you get easily homesick and are very dependent on your parents would not end well. Another student thinks that your experience depends on your mindset, while a final student doesn’t believe that boarding school has any impact on mental health. Spending a year away from their parents has felt freeing and amazing for most of the HAMS boarders interviewed. This time away has grown a sense of independence in the students, and Wolfie Egan even ventured to say that he doesn’t feel like he needs his parents anymore. Being confronted with a new setting has been refreshing for some and stressful for others, but has left even the stressed students feeling mature. What I take from these interviews is that entering a year or more away from home can be challenging, but that with the right mentality and the right age, you will make friends and experience newfound independence. Maybe the urge towards boarding school should come with more caution, but boarding can nevertheless be an opportunity to expand your horizons past a place of comfort and habit. Work Cited X. Ma et al. “Comparison of Learning Adaptability, Mental Health and Academic Achievement between Boarding and Non-Boarding Primary School Students”. Chin. J. Clin. Psychol. 2013;21:497–499.
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“An Island of Sanity”: An Interview With Mr. Phillips By Nola Goodwin ’23
Come July, Hebron Academy will have a brand new head of school. This is a big transition for the community, but certainly an exciting one. On his visit to campus at the end of April, I was able to sit down for a quick interview with Mr. Phillips, and he shared some facts about himself and his job. Before Hebron, Patrick Phillips was the head of Hawaii Preparatory Academy, and is looking forward to joining the Hebron community. “There was this sense of Hebron being a really special place,” said Mr. Phillips when asked what drew him to the school. “I remember coming to campus and being drawn to the place, but much more so to the people. I could understand why people talked about it as such a special, unique place, and why alumni from thirty, forty, fifty years ago would say ‘this is where I found who I am.’” Mr. Phillips may not have officially stepped into the role yet, but I got the impression that he’s committed to making positive changes during his time here: “One of the best parts of my job is working with students and faculty to, as I like to say, bridge the present and the possible. Maybe we’re happy with where we are now, but where are we going to go? I want to help figure out what that looks like for the students and the faculty, and try to move the school in that direction. I always call my time with students an island of sanity. That part of the job is a time where I can just be present with the kids.” In addition to discussing his upcoming position, Mr. Phillips shared some fun facts about himself. For example: he loves hockey, hiking, and just being in nature, which will absolutely be an asset during his time on campus. In spite of his desire for a “refined palate,” he was unashamed to admit that his favorite food is 100% pizza. On the flip side, Mr. Phillips told me that some more time had to pass before he revealed all of his hidden talents, but he did share that he’s unnaturally good at guessing the time without a watch. Definitely a useful skill. He was more excited to talk about his college radio show, though: “It was brilliant. I’m not sure if we found the recording today we would say the same, but I think it definitely still was.” To end our interview, I asked Mr. Phillips what he wanted the student body to know about him before next fall, to which he responded: “I hope they can learn that I’m interested in their lives, in making sure that their experience is everything they hoped it would be, and what we hope it to be. And that means I hope they feel comfortable coming into my office, stopping me as we’re walking, chatting with me in the lobby. I think that’s an incredibly important piece of building community.”
Graphic Design Team: Nora Tobey ’24 Julia Lopo ’23 Jasper Curtis ’22 Rica Wong ’22 Editors: Nola Goodwin ’23 Assistant Editor: Robert “Cotton” Strong ’23 Faculty Advisors: Barbara Waterman Hillory Oakes
