Meimei Ma and Jamie Chao

Organic Roots recently spoke to Meimei Ma (NCS 68-70, parent 13–16) and Jamie Chao (NCS 13–16) to learn about how their experiences at NCS have shaped them.

Meimei, how did you end up at North Country School?

MM: My father was a professor teaching in Thailand my 7th-grade year, and my mother was interested in going with him. I didn’t want to go to different schools each year for 7th–9th grades, and since I’d been attending summer camp for years my parents knew homesickness wouldn’t be an issue. My mother and I visited NCS toward the end of 6th grade, and after an hour I knew I wanted to go. My mother, who had a PhD in social work focused on child development, talked to Leo Clark and she must have agreed with the Clarks’ philosophy on raising children.

Did you have particular experiences at NCS that were formative in bringing you to where you are today?

MM: I’ll always remember a time my classmate Nick Hewitt (CTT 64, NCS 70, trustee 04–present, Balanced Rocks Circle) and I built a snow cave out on the Upper Field, and some boys wanted to take it over. I walked right to Walter’s office to complain, with Nick following, and Walter looked at us and asked, “Do you like the fort?” We said yes, and he told us, “Well then, go defend it.” So we went back out, made some snowballs, and had a fun snowball fight with those boys. Walter just leaned back and let us handle it. It was Walter being Walter.

Jamie: The faculty are always teaching you how to care about others, whether at the barn with the animals or with each other. In Larry Robjent’s Earth science class we would talk not just about science, but about how to live in the present and not worry about things you can’t control. We talked about how kindness will serve you later in life. Katie Weaver always reminded me to be patient. John Doan taught me how to telemark, but he also told me that I could quit if I didn’t like it. He encouraged me to try something new, and made sure I knew that I didn’t have to keep doing it if it wasn’t for me.

Meimei, why was it that you wanted Jamie to have the NCS experience as well?

MM: I always wanted any children I had to go to NCS if it was a good fit. Jim and I saw early on that Jamie loved the outdoors. I brought her on an admissions visit and she loved it right away. By then she had already enjoyed Friends’ Weekend quite a few times. It is such a special place for kids, and I am absolutely tickled that my good friend’s daughter Langlang is a current NCS 7th grader. She had the same reaction to the place during an admissions visit for her older brother a few years ago. That was reinforced while her family stayed at Rock-E House with us this summer. She climbed at the Crag, she got to ride horses, she liked weeding in the garden. It was fantastic. My desire to send kids that are a good fit to North Country School goes beyond my own family. Academics are important, but what’s really unique about NCS is everything else.

Is there a particular spot on campus that you feel most connected to?

Jamie: The art room. I love the couch where you can see the barn and the trees, and there is so much natural light. Katie Weaver was my art teacher and we still send letters back and forth to each other every few months. Also, Larry’s old shop in Flushing. There were times in the winter coming back from the shop that my hands were freezing because it was so cold, but working with your friends, you didn’t care.

MM: My favorite indoor space was the chimney in the library. I spent a lot of time reading there, and playing hide-and-seek up in the chimney. That chimney is a very good hiding place.

What is it that brings you back to campus so frequently?

MM: Going to Friends’ Weekend is going back to the mountains, which are their own draw. That started back in 1981. After Jamie graduated in 2016, it was also about everyone we can visit in Lake Placid. Some of Jamie’s friends were day students. It’s a place that’s important because I loved my time as an NCS student, but also because of all the current friends we see when we’re there.

Jamie: It’s definitely about the people. Seeing every- one you talk to during the year, but also people you don’t talk to but when you do it’s like you’ve never left. I feel like I learn about my teachers as people every time I go back. This summer I got to watch Garth playing with his baby daughter. Courtney’s kids were little when I was there and they’re so big now. It’s great seeing the campus kids running around having fun.

Meimei, you have been a supporter of School for many years as a leadership donor to the annual fund and most recently with a capital gift to the Teaching and Learning Kitchen. Why has North Country School been a philanthropic priority of yours?

MM: That’s a carryover from my parents. I didn’t realize until well past college that my parents continued to give every year after I left. I started giving at least a little every year in college. With the Teaching and Learning Kitchen, I wanted to do something where I could see the impact. I like the fact that the TLK is used for School and Camp, but also for the larger community. I give to my other schools, but I’m most dedicated to NCS because my experience there was life-changing. I don’t know if I would have had a drastically different experience if I’d gone elsewhere for high school or college, but I have no doubt that my two years at North Country School fundamentally changed the trajectory of my life forever. It colored everything.

Do you have a final memory or thought you want people to know that we might have missed?

Jamie: Hock’s justice talks. Once a week Hock would talk to us about how to navigate the world and how to be a good person. We talked about ethics and kindness. So much of the faculty and staff are really wise and knowledgeable, but they are humble about it. As a kid you’re like, “I want to be like you when I get older.” And then you get older and you hope that you’re implementing the stuff that they taught you.

MM: Those ideas, the philosophy of the school that Walter and Leo established so long ago, they have continued throughout its entire history. That fundamental core of North Country School and Camp Treetops is there, and it hasn’t wavered.