Read My Full Bio
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
A
Taft Winter Formal is truly a one of a kind experience. This February I went to
my third annual Taft Formal. The Formal is put together by the senior monitors.
The monitors get a band, a DJ, decorate the Marriott (where the Formal is held
each year), and they pick a theme; and, this year the mons had an awesome idea
for the Formal: Winter Olympics.
I’m
sure that many of you are wondering how you sit with a date in a stuffy room at
a silent table, stomaching bad food until a bell rings and everyone begins a
synchronized dance in big puffy dresses… while incorporating ice hockey and
curling. Easy answer: you don’t. Formals at Taft are not very…formal, to say
the least. This year there were students sporting obnoxiously large reading
glasses, kilts, and pastel colored tuxedos. My date and I sat at a table where
we practiced the art of looking good in otherwise “creepy” pictures. When he
refused to dance to the band’s cover of Sublime, I ditched him in the arcade
room and went back to the wooden dance floor to dance with some of my friends.
Finally, when I was all done getting down with the band, I went back to the
arcade and my date and I OWNED in foosball. (He was quite possibly one of the
best foosball defensemen I’ve seen in a while.) As we were kicking everyone
else’s butts in the arcade room, the DJ part of Formal had begun. First thing I
saw when I walked in was fieldhockey-hockey player-baseball manager
extraordinaire, Courtney, getting down in her awesome black dress with soccer
all-star- ice skating goddess-beast rower, Sophia; from that moment I knew
that the world of Taft sports and Formal were making a big, big statement.
Formal 2010 was the best Formal I’ve attended. The senior mons did an awesome
job making sure that everyone was having fun that night. I can’t wait until
next year’s Formal, or the interschool dance that’s sure to be a big hit in two
weeks!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Varsity Volleyball "Digs Pink" for the SideOut Foundation's Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign
Hi there!
Junior year has begun and it promises to be a memorable year. Returning for my third year here at Taft, I assumed that I knew what was in store for this year; big mistake! At the end of my Middle year, I asked to live with a new Upper Mid for the 2009-2010 school year. I did not expect that my roommate’s experiences at Taft would also serve as her first experiences in America; she's from Bulgaria! Living with a new student has been an awesome asset to this year, as I am learning about different cultures and a whole new way of life on a very intimate level.
Beginning this year I decided to take on a full load of courses: five core classes and an art. My schedule, coupled with extracurricular engagements, has proven to be very difficult even within the first few weeks of school. However, the enthusiasm and understanding of my teachers undoubtedly make my academic life bearable.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so the varsity volleyball team has been organizing fundraisers all month to supply donations to the Side-Out Foundation, Dig Pink Society. To kick off our Breast Cancer Awareness campaign, we held a jeans day, which, in itself, raised over $2,000 in donations. On Wednesday, October 7, both the JV and Varsity teams –outfitted in pink jerseys, and socks— played against Hotchkiss in another fundraising event. Playing with pink game balls, we were all happy to fight our archrival side-by-side against breast cancer. The game opened with a reading of names of people--family members and friends--who have been affected by, or are currently fighting the battle against cancer. Donations from parents, local sponsors, classmates, and teachers are all being added to our chapter of the Side-Out Foundation.
Between volleyball, school-work, and the other clubs and activities on campus junior year is definitely a lot busier than I'd expected it would be, but I'm enjoying it all the same.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Hi, again! Just checking in to tell everyone about Spring Break. I started off my break with a community-service trip to the Dominican Republic. About 30 Tafties met at LaGuardia ready to travel to Puerto Plata. After about seven hours–and a one-mile sprint from terminal A to terminal E to catch a second plane—we arrived at the airport, where two buses were waiting to take us to Hogar La Esperanza de un Nino Orphanage in Monte Cristi.
We stayed at the orphanage for a week. There, all of the students were split into small groups (about 4 of us per group) and were assigned two classes. Each day we would teach an a.m. and a p.m. session.
In my group we taught a seventh grade class in the morning and second grade class in the afternoon. Over the course of the week we had taught about 60 students lessons on colors, clothing, fruits, and body parts in English. In the classroom I found myself immediately forced to find confidence in the Spanish that I had already know and to find the confidence needed to ask an eight-year-old how to say lemon and explain that I’d learned a different dialect, one that made no sense to her. The trip showed me just how simple life can be. In the Dominican Republic more than 50 percent of the population falls below the poverty line: more than half of the country survives on less than $2 a day. The kids in the orphanage and the kids in the overcrowded classrooms were unbelievably happy just to have a picture taken of them.
This was trip was a completely mind-blowing experience and it was great to be able to experience it with some of my closest friends.
For the second half of spring-break I went to a pre-season rowing trip. Both the boys and girls crews, most of them, were in Miami Beach for eight days to row in the gorgeous Florida sun. Twice a day the teams we were on the water improving technique, gaining strength, and just getting to know each other a little better.
Aside from rowing together, we got to live with our teammates, lie on the beach together, jump in the pool, and eat dinner as a team. There were a lot of fun activities at night, too. There was a skit night, which most of us saw as an opportunity to poke fun at the coaches; Iron Chef, my room’s “breakfast for dinner” placed second; and a trip to South Beach. It was hard to leave the 80-degree weather, but I’m excited for the last stretch the school year!
Friday, February 13, 2009
It's 80s night, oh yes it's 80s night...
Last weekend was a closed weekend; so, all of the boarders were on campus. The school monitors planned an '80s dance for Saturday night. To promote the dance they made a video and showed it to the student body during Saturday morning assembly. In the video teachers talked about their favorite '80s memories: the short-shorts, working out, and neon colors. The video tried to help us (children of the '90s) out. But, we still needed some help picking out the perfect outfit to look like we belonged in 1982. So, the monitors and some of the other seniors on campus dressed up according to advice given by the faculty. Some of the community service groups on campus also helped out. In preparation for the spring break trip to the Dominican Republic, the Orphanage Outreach group sold neon-colored sweatbands to raise money for the orphanage and give students easy access to some great costumes.
Once we were finally outfitted head to toe, with sweatbands, side ponytails, spandex and legwarmers, we walked over to main building, where the dance was being held. The school monitors did a great job planning the dance and even got Orange Crush to play for us. We had a great time dancing to the music and just having fun each other. The '80s dance was a great way to end a vigorous week of classes and sports.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Taft Volleyball team is taking part in a nationally recognized Breast Cancer awareness program through the Side-Out Foundation. This year the team had a “Dig Pink” game. In order to raise money each of us went around asking for sponsors, who included teachers, faculty members, and classmates that agreed to donate a small amount of money (50 cents to one dollar) for every kill, block, dig and ace that a player made in the Dig Pink.
The team came back from long weekend and had a tie-dye practice. Throughout practice we tie-dyed t-shirts pink for the game. In addition to our pink shirts we wore pick socks and pink sweat-bands to show support for breast cancer awareness. Because the game was so important to all of us, we made signs for one another to hang around the school.
In addition to hosting the Dig Pink game, we held a volleyball clinic for the Side-Out Foundation. The team conducted volleyball lessons for people of all levels. Players conducted drills on serving, passing, setting, hitting, and blocking to locals on Sunday, Oct. 19. Money came from donations and a small admission fee.
But the volleyball court isn’t the only place that you can see Taft students supporting breast cancer awareness. The School Store is now stocking its shelves with Milano cookies sporting the phrase, “inspiration for the cure,” on its pink package. Taft also raised money to support breast cancer research at the annual Breast Cancer Walk when students volunteered and walked for the cause.
One of my favorite things about attending Taft is knowing that everyone shares my desire to contribute to our global community. I loved seeing all of the fans and parents come out in pink to support the cause, and I was impressed at the amount of students who woke up at 7am on a Sunday morning to walk for breast cancer, and I respect the students who have the courage to stand up in front of the entire school to announce what they are going to do to help a cause in a morning assembly. At Taft everyone has a huge desire to help and support others and I think that that desire is what makes Taft so awesome.
Ebony's Bio
Read My Journal
Hi! I’m Ebony and I'm from Far Rockaway, New York. I am un Upper Mid (junior) here at Taft. This is my third year as a boarding student, and I absolutely love living here. Coming to Taft was a huge jump from my New York City public school. The class size and intimacy of campus life was the biggest shock for me. Throughout my 9 years in public school a class size of 22 was small; at Taft my largest class had 12 students. I Took Spanish for 3 years before coming here, and I think that I learned more during my freshman year at Taft than in those 3 years combined.
But, Taft isn’t all about academics! Life in the dorms is awesome. This year I live in Centennial Hall and the people in this dorm are always a lot of fun to be around. Between making up mini-golf games in the hallways and Wednesday night chips and salsa feeds there isn't much time to be bored. The many clubs on campus (United Cultures at Taft, Tea Club, Red Sweater Club, Origami Club, Harry Potter Club…etc) and the openness of the staff and returning students all help us share interests.
I love everything about Taft: from competing in an interscholastic competition to walking down the hall in main building, where the doors are always open. Just being able to peak my head into Headmaster MacMullen’s office, or to go talk to Mr. Frew, Director of Admissions, is awesome. Everyone at Taft is welcoming, and I think that makes the Taft community fun and exciting. After just a few weeks on campus, Taft became home.
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