Winter Formal - February 2008

Festive and fun, Formal 2008 was easily the best night of the year thus far. Comprised of dinner and dance, the formal is an elegant event where students dress up in formal attire and have the opportunity to bring a date. This years’ theme was “Austin Powers,” and the night was a huge success. Although the dinner was amazing and the 60's rock band was spectacular, the pivotal moment of the night was on the dance floor. With hip-hop, rap, techno, and an occasional pop song blasting in the dance room, and of course the Go-Go dance cages, the atmosphere in the room was electric. One highlight was when practically the whole school joined together to do the Soulja Boy dance. At the end of the night, I was extremely sad and depressed to see it go, as it was the last formal I would ever have at Taft. With an amazing date, great food, and some awesome dances, I could honestly say that this was the best formal I have ever attended.

Football Under the Lights - November, 2007

Imagine a setting where school pride, loud cheers, and an amazing competition dominate the social life of students on a Friday night. Whether playing or spectating, the varsity football game under the lights here at Taft on Friday night embodied such an atmosphere. While playing the game, I heard the constant chanting of "Go Big Red," "T-A-F-T," and an occasional "SIR" when the referee made an erroneous call. I was reminded of the communitive spirit that exists in this amazing place. Being the last home game for the seniors, one of my most treasured memories of that night was the ecstatic energy and passion displayed through the cheers, fans, an most of all, the players on my team. Although we lost, this was an amazing night - one that will always remind me in years to come of how fun my experience at Taft really was.

Dance Concert - March 2008

The winter dance concert provides opportunities for dancers to perform pieces they learn throughout the year as well as their own choreographies. As part of Dance ex in winter, I enjoyed working with our dance teacher, Mrs. Barriser, and my fellow dancers. This year, we presented sixteen individual pieces for the first part of the concert, and for the second part, we presented a longer piece Sustina, a beautiful story of two lovers in the 1960’s Italy. We performed modern, ballet, and jazz in solos, duets and group dances. Having done Chinese dance for 13 years, I performed a Tibetan dance Heaven Road which describes the happy Tibetans when they learned that railroads were built in their homeland. Since it is Mrs. Barriser’s last year at Taft, she performed an amazing duet Reflection with her daughter Ellenor Barriser. All the dancers worked very hard to get ready for the winter dance concert. We had a lot of fun together, and we all love the dance ensemble.

Parents' Weekend - October, 2007

Parents’ day takes place twice a year, on Saturdays in the fall and the winter term. Taft provides an opportunity for our parents to participate in class as well as to communicate with teachers. On parents’ day, each class lasts for 25 minutes with 15-minute-breaks in between. Taft has a tradition that many clubs do fund raising and sales, hoping that parents might be interested in buying their kids random club tee shirts, CDs, blankets, belts etc. While people shop, the traffic becomes a little heavier than usual, one of the reasons for adjusting the break time into 15 minutes from 5 minutes during a regular class day.

During parents’ weekend, there are a lot of performances; the musical (in the fall term), the play (in the winter term), Collegium (Advanced Chorus), Chamber (Orchestra), Jazz band, Improv Show, Hydrox and Oriocos (A Capella groups). This fall, Mr. Carlson and a group of students performed “The Wizard of Oz.” It was an amazing show and most of the students and their parents loved it.

Surprisingly, my mom came from some 8000 miles away from China to see me this parents’ weekend. I was really excited about her coming. By participating in my classes, my mom learned how classes in our school work. She also found out how I am doing in other areas of my life by speaking to my teachers, advisor, and coach.

All sports meet during parents’ weekend. I had a game on the Friday before parents’ day, and my mom came to watch. I was free that Saturday when many other teams played, so I showed my mom around and introduced field hockey and football to her, because those two sports are not popular in China. Then we watched soccer together. That night, I stayed in a hotel with my mom. We had a good time chatting about my school life and her life at home. Parent’s weekend is a nice break for students to get in touch with their family in the middle of a semester, especially for me with my family so far away.

However, I also have fun on Parent's Days when my parents don't come. Well, I mean, at least I don’t need to worry so much about saying something smart in front of my parents. I help out clubs with their sales, and I buy a lot of random stuff. Sometimes there are events for international students whose parents can't come. Last winter, the International Club went together to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. It was a good time to hang out with friends, to catch up with work, and to enjoy all the performances on campus.

Winter Spirit - February 2008

The winter season is here, but it is flying by! Unfortunately there has not been a lot of snow this year at Taft, but the few storms that we have had have led to some great snowball fights, snow men and sledding on the campus. Skaters of all levels can be found on the pond throughout the day, and everybody seems to be in the winter spirit. The hot chocolate machine is back in the cafeteria following a long absence and just at the right time, because it looks like the cold is here to stay for awhile.

The heaters are all on level 5 and there is a nice warm feeling throughout the buildings that welcomes everyone as they come in from the bitter cold. Fortunately for the guys, our dorms are connected to main building, where most of our classes are. Girls’ dorms, on the other hand, are off on the other side of the pond and they have to fight through the early cold to get to class and breakfast. There are some days when I only have one class that requires me to go outside and travel across the pond to the Wu building.

The winter season is my favorite mostly because of the cold weather, snow (I was raised in New England) and because of hockey. I started the season off with some bad luck getting mono right before tryouts, but fortunately I got better in three weeks and was back on the ice. I’m now playing both Varsity and Junior Varsity at school and I am a little depressed that we only have six games left.

These last couple weeks have been awesome because we have had a few free Mondays and Saturdays due to Long Weekend and the Winter Formal. I think there was a span of three weeks when we did not have school on a Monday! When you take away a Monday, it makes the rest of a Taft week a lot more manageable. Last weekend we had our winter long weekend. All students finished classes on Thursday and many went away for four days. We all came back on the following Monday to get ready for school on Tuesday. I went home for the weekend because I needed to get certain shots in order to go to the Dominican Republic with the school later in the spring. It was great to be home and visit with my family.

The Winter Formal is next weekend and everybody is very excited. Until then!

Hotchkiss Day - November, 2007

Hey everyone,

This Saturday nobody at Taft had classes. Instead we all drove to our rival school with the objective to beat them in every sport. Hotchkiss day is when every Taft team plays a Hotchkiss team. The sporting events take place at Hotchkiss and Taft alternating every year.

I awoke to the yelling of some friends in my room who were wearing all red. I quickly got dressed and put on mostly red to support Taft. We then ran downstairs to eat a quick breakfast. After we ate and went outside we were painted red and given a mini cone for the purpose of yelling louder. The buses arrived and the fun day of Taft vs. Hotchkiss sports began.

This year all the games took place at Hotchkiss, so it should seem logical that Hotchkiss would have more fans that are louder and demonstrate more support. WRONG! As usually, we showed more support and screamed louder then the home team. We brought four full buses over and matched, if not surpassed, the number of Hotchkiss fans. Arriving at Hotchkiss a flood of red stormed out of our fan buses and ran to the first game against our rivals. The flood of red fans stayed together the whole day and yelled louder then any blue bearcats on site.

Our biggest win of the day in my opinion was the volleyball game where Taft put on a clinic for Hotchkiss about how to be better at everything. After wandering around outside, then watching some of the sports outside, all the Taft fans stormed into the gym to watch a couple of games of volleyball. We occupied both bleachers with a sea of red loud enough to have me lose my hearing for a day. The Bearcats were ranked first and Taft was fifth in New England to start the day. If Hotchkiss won it would be a big deal for them, if Taft won it would mean everything; therefore all of our fans were there. A wide array of chants lead by seniors gave the upper edge to Taft. Some Hotchkiss fans were at the balcony above us trying to yell, but fell short due to lack of numbers. After blowing out Hotchkiss in the first two games and embarrassing them vocally, Hotchkiss finally won a game making the series 2-1 in favor of Taft. Then the majority of the Bearcat fans showed up to demonstrate that they didn’t want to hide in their rooms anymore. Hotchkiss won the next game, tying up the series despite louder cheers from the Taft fans. All games were over now except for football which meant more fans from both schools arrived. The entire series came down to one final game to 15 points. Now the gym is packed with the entire student body of both schools. With one difference, we are still louder. The game came down to the last point with Taft on top. A missed Hotchkiss serve cemented a Taft victory in front of our rivals. The majority of the Taft student body ran onto the court to congratulate the team on the huge win.

Hotchkiss might have won football and soccer today, but not in one sports game did they out yell us. I genuinely believe that kids at Taft have more passion than most other prep schools in the area, just one thing that sets us apart.

Crew Trip to Miami - March 2008

I had a fantastic, very Taft-oriented spring break this year. For the first eleven days of break I went to France and Spain with Collegium, and had the best time of my life. Afterwards, I flew straight to Miami for preseason for the crew. I must say that the first few days seemed pretty uneventful after my wonderful time in Europe, but I ended up having a great time. After waking up at 5:30 to leave Spain, I got in to our hotel in Miami at midnight, absolutely exhausted, especially factoring in the time difference. Upon arrival, I found out that I was rooming with my two good friends and my new girl, who is a freshman assigned to me at the beginning of the year so that I could guide her and be there for her if she had any questions or problems. Luckily though, we had late practice that morning - we alternated each day with the boys’ crew team for practice times. I personally preferred early practices because although we had to get up earlier and take out the boats, once practice was over we didn’t have to clean them and put them away.

The crew trip lasted five days, and consisted of a morning and afternoon practice each day, ranging from two to three hours each. The first day was mainly technique because the novices who came along had not been on the water yet, due to the fact that Bantam Lake, where we row back at Taft, was still frozen over when we left.

As a tradition, after every morning practice we get money for breakfast and always go to the New York Bagel Deli right around the corner from the boathouse. My friends and I perfected the strategy of sprinting across the street as soon as stretching was over, timing it just right so that after we were across the light would turn red, and the rest of the team would be stranded on the other side, leaving us to be first in line. My typical order was a toasted power bagel with scallion cream cheese. After breakfast/lunch, we’d go back to the hotel and get out by the pool as fast as possible. The rule was that as long as we kept very well hydrated, we could be out in the sun, and almost everybody on the team took advantage of this. Every night, we’d go to a different restaurant within walking distance, usually with the girls and boys teams combined. One night, we had a barbeque at the boathouse, which was extremely fun -- hamburgers, chicken, chips, and s’mores right next to the water.

On Thursday, right in the middle of our trip, we got the afternoon off and went to South beach for a really fun afternoon and evening. We were allowed to separate and do whatever we wanted with the afternoon and evening as long as we met for a 5:45 dinner at a restaurant called the Big Pink. After dinner we wandered around for a bit and then attempted to find a bus to get back to the hotel. We watched four of the buses that we should have been on drive away without us, but finally found a bus and made it back to the hotel by 10:00, although we were supposed to be back by around 9:00.

On the last day we divided into two eights and did four race pieces against each other. The next morning we had to be down in the lobby by 7:00 to drive to the airport for our flights. Mine was at 11:30, and so I had a while to wait once we got there but I bumped into a few other Taft students in the same terminal so it wasn’t that bad. I had the three days of Easter weekend to catch up on sleep, and returned to school Monday night, excited to see all of my friends after the short three day break away from them, and my roommate after a long two and a half weeks away from her.

Holiday Jazz Concert - December 2007

Usually, before winter vacation, we have a hard five days of exams, and on the afternoon of the fifth day we leave. This year a change was made in the schedule, and we added an extra day. After the math exam we had a night off, and the next morning we attended all of our classes in 20-minutes blocks. This way we had time to enjoy ourselves before winter vacation, and not be distracted from studying for our last exam by packing and by the prospect of leaving. This change proved to be a success; I had a much easier time studying for my math exam and was able to enjoy an excellent Lessons and Carols service and an incredible jazz performance.

As I mentioned before, I sing in Collegium, and so I sang a service from 7:30 to 8:30 on Tuesday night. My friend Sarah’s younger brother was playing in the jazz band concert later that night, and so we were planning to go after our service. As we were leaving the church, we heard the jazz sounds coming from the building next door, Walker Hall, and many of the members of Collegium headed inside.

We found a warm and cheerful atmosphere with punch, snacks, parents milling around and happily chatting, and of course, the jazz band up front playing. Everyone was in a great mood because we had just finished the last exam, and our three-week vacation was in site. The members of the jazz band were all dressed in black and wearing Santa hats, and everyone was consumed by excitement for and anticipation of the Holidays. We were having a great time and decided that after all our hard work over the past week, it was time to dance, so we took off our shoes and made our way to a clearing on the floor. We danced with whoever we could find – friends, parents, grandparents. My roommate taught me a move that involved flailing your legs around, but I never quite got it.

We ended up staying there for much longer than we had expected, and finally made our way back to school at around 9:45. While initially the prospect of staying at school an extra night seemed frustrating, it relieved a lot of pressure from studying and the entire community was able to enjoy a care-free night of great music with great friends, before a well-deserved break.

Red Riot - November, 2007

Every year on the night before Hotchkiss day, we have Red Riot. All of our sports teams play our rival school on Hotchkiss day, and everyone, whether participating in a sport or not, comes to support. We have no classes on Saturday of that week, so that all of Friday night and Saturday can be devoted to this huge event.

Red Riot took place on Friday night. At 6:00 I met with the rest of the cross-country team in The Rock, a small senior girls dorm where our captains live. We all wrote on white Hanes shirts – Cross Country, “Let the Feast Begin!” (our team motto) on the front, and our nick names on the back, and wore them to a team dinner. The dining hall was packed with every team eating together, and filled with red balloons, streamers, loud music, and a slide show of pictures of all the teams playing. Our team arrived kind of late, and so we had to practically inhale our dinners, and at 6:45 everyone flooded into Bingham, our auditorium, where Red Riot officially began.

Bingham was a mass of red clothes and red face paint and red glow sticks and lots of energy. The event started off with one of our teachers bounding up on stage and leading us in some chants to get us pumped up. Then there were three videos, one of which had a few minutes featuring each of our sports teams. I was lucky and there weren't any pictures of me suffering during a cross country race! The second video, made by the senior class committee, was a spoof on an MTV show, essentially making fun of Hotchkiss. The last video documented our prank on Hotchkiss, pulled off by some senior boys. After more chants and cheers, everyone went outside to watch the gigantic bonfire that had been set up in the middle of the pond earlier that day.

The bond fire was so much fun! It was huge and the entire school gathered around the pond while all the captains processed out on the very far side of the pond carrying torches. Everyone took pictures, participated in chants, and watched the bonfire burn until people started to gradually disperse. I stayed with a few friends to sit on the edge of the patio by the jig, a place where students can go to get food, and continued to watch the fire.

After the bonfire there was a student-run dance in our blackbox theater, and after changing into more comfortable clothes, my friends and I all danced until check-in at 11:30. I slept over with my friends in their dorm, Vogue, a great end to a great night.

Rhino Cup Finale - February 2008

I recently had to choose my afternoon elective for the winter term. I had already tried aerobics and weight training so I decided to find something new. As an alternative, I played hockey. Although I had not skated in about seven years, joining Rhino Cup, the coed, intramural hockey program seemed like my best option. I was initially told that the average skill level would be similar to that of mine, but was pleasantly surprised to find that a large portion of the kids had played for much of their childhood. After about two months of backbreaking practices and dancing, the team overcame each other’s differences and made plans to organize a “night game”, similar to that of one the Varsity team’s games. We split the gang into two equally talented teams and ordered personalized jerseys with nicknames. I named myself “Icebox” after Becky from Little Giants. The Rhino Cup game ended up bringing out hundreds of shirless fans painted in red. The teams were neck-and-neck throughout all three periods, however the Red Teams’ dance moves might have given them a slight advantage. The White Team fought the good fight but couldn’t stop Red’s Jamie Benasuli, also known as “Mmm Delicious”, from scoring 5 goals in the last 4 minutes—leaving the Red Team with an 8-7 victory.

Super Sunday - September, 2007

One of my favorite traditions at Taft is Super Sunday! This event takes place right at the beginning of each year as a way to help new students meet people. Super Sunday was also one of the first activities we had to plan as School Monitors. Our job was to divide the school into 12 teams, categorized by different colors. Each monitor was assigned to a color and had the chance to pick 2 other seniors to be team captains. I choose the Black Team for intimidation purposes along with 2 other close friends to help lead the squad. The best part about the day was setting up all of the activities: egg toss, tug of war, pyramid, 3-legged race, apple bobbing, and the infamous crisco slide. Basically it is a huge field day, with all of Taft competing. Our team started the day off with Sam Shiverick leading a strenuous warm up of duck, duck, goose, followed by some dynamic stretching. Despite our team’s poor final record, we decided to finish off the day with confidence as we screamed, “Undefeated”.

MLK Celebration - January 2008

The second semester here at Taft is in full swing. The seniors, busy with the senior thesis and senior projects, wait anxiously for college responses; drummers from Africa have performed; professional dance companies have held workshops for the students; and so much more excitement has surrounded the Taft campus. For me, Taft’s celebration of MLK day has been the most interesting event so far. The 21st of January came with a lot of anticipation and left with a great feeling of growth, for our students, the country, and as we proved this year, for the world, too. The theme of this year’s MLK day was "King is Global.”

Mr. Ricks, the genius behind MLK day this year, is the Dean of Multi-cultural Affairs at Taft. Before we all departed for winter break, he had us all thinking about each of our countries and how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy has affected each of us. Dr. King’s name is known worldwide but I did not know of his morals, his aims, and his passions until coming to Taft. I began to get a true sense of what, besides racism, King was fighting for – freedom, equality, non-violence, and most of all, peace between every man, woman and child. As much as every nation has or has not suffered, these are all traits we all yearn for. We can make King’s values global.

The celebrations began on campus with the powerful reading of King’s “I have a dream” speech, by senior Monisha Dillard, one of the amazing people who make Taft so much more than just a school. Then the inspiring Dr. Gloria White-Hammond addressed the current issues in Darfur, Sudan. Her story of trying to make a difference, is living proof that’s King’s legacy has affected people on the individual level. The next day held more action, starting with the Athletics, Academics and Art’s Program for middle school students from Waterbury and the surrounding community. The aim of this was to stretch our festivities to as many as possible, and to give these children a feel for King’s greatness. There were clinics on everything from computer science, to step, to ice hockey, all led by Taft students and faculty. I assisted with the dance workshop and worked with five amazing girls. We explored movement and movement qualities, worked in small groups, and had loads of fun! We went from performing our dances to each other to ending off the session by sitting on the floor, sharing our different stories and getting to know each other further. Ours was just one of many great workshops that were offered on the day.

The festivities ended with a concert. We had performances from all around the world, presented by members of the rich international population at Taft. We had the Indian and German national anthems, other songs, poems, stories, traditional instruments and so much more. I was involved in a dramatic reading of Raison in the Sun with three of my friends Monisha Dillard, Shanika Audige and Isaac Bamgbose, and a dance recital of Strange Fruit with my co-dancer, Louise Trueheart. Our dance portrayed a story of two young girls, black and white, and how they grew up as friends, without recognizing color as any sort of definition – King’s stated ideal world. They wake up one morning to find a black person had been hanged. The dance portrays their realization of how different the world looked outside of their friendship. I loved this piece, just as much as I loved the entire celebration Taft put on for the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was a great day.

Ballet Class - November 2007

Ballet is the single most important thing in my life… well maybe not the most important thing, but it is definitely one of my passions. I have been dancing since I was three years old. Except dancing then was not the same thing it is now. When I was three years old it was the pretty, pink tutus, sparkly shoes and the continuous skipping which captivated me. I was lucky to have something that fascinated me at such a young age. I was lucky that my mother forced me to give it a try, despite my screaming objections. Without her encouragement, I would not have found this thing that I love. For the last fourteen years, I have been working hard to become a disciplined dancer.

Intermediate/Advanced Dance was the first thing I signed up when selecting my courses at Taft. I was able take dance as an academic class. That sounded like heaven to me. Mrs. Barisser (Mrs. B) was my new teacher. I had only one dance teacher in my life before Taft, and that made me a little anxious. I remember falling in love with the dance studio on my first Friday at Taft. The high ceiling, the mirrors hugging the walls, and the sun constantly shining in on the floor made it the prettiest studio I had ever seen. My class turned out to be very diverse, with American girls, a French girl, a Hungarian, a Saudi Arabian, and me, a Motswana. We’ve all had different training, different teachers and different experiences, including Mrs. B. This brought spice to the class. Mrs. B knows what she wants and we all do our best to give it. We have classes where we laugh and joke. There are classes where we feel like we sweat an ocean. There are also classes where we feel like crying and giving up. We are always there for each other, though, pushing one another on. When you finally master a sequence that you have been working so hard on, and the rest of the class cheers you on, it means more than you could imagine.

The class is not just ballet, and I feel like I have learned a lot of amazing stuff about dance in general. Something new for me was modern dance, our focus on Wednesdays, and choreography, each Friday’s subject. Being responsible for your own movements, for your own creation is a miraculous feeling. This class has only reinforced for me that Taft is about constant discovery.

Spring on the Horizon - March 2008

I know it’s been a while since I posted anything, but guess what, I have brought a lot of interesting things to share this time. I will start with Wrestling. I joined the Wrestling team during the winter season, and it was a very good experience being with a group made up of seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen. We had two and half hour practices every day, and at least one meet per week. The practices were intense and required lots of endurance, which we built throughout season. The reason I really liked wrestling in the end was the all-around nature of the sport, which involves the entire body, including legs, arms and of course the mind. It keeps you completely conditioned and strong. As I was in 160lb weight class, and there were many other excellent wrestlers in my weight class, I proved not be a very good wrestler for the team this season. My teammates encouraged me, though, calling me “strong” and gave me the nickname, “The Beast from the Middle East.”

The spring season tryouts started on February 26, 2008, and I couldn’t believe it was almost spring break. I had worked out this winter with some former rowers, and they encouraged me to try crew. I was excited to try something new, especially because crew is a water sport. I love water, though,am I afraid of it too. Mr. Tarshis, our crew coach, is tough, and expects really hard work from us. We set high goals for the season. We started practice on February 26, 2008, and it went very well. Then, we had 2x20, 5x5, 10 minutes, 9, 8, and 7 practices each day, which were exhausting. The hard work pays off, and I recently pulled a 7:24 2k, an improved time for me. Crew causes a lot of pain, in the in back, legs, and abs, and after a practice we are all completely exhausted. Still, I am loving it!

The crew team is going on a one week trip to Miami for practice over spring break, and luckily I was invited. It’s going to be fun there, and will surely be a learning experience. We have just four days until spring break, and I can’t wait. I will see you guys after my spring break, but don’t forget to check in, because I am going to bring so much from Miami…

Final Exams - December, 2007

The final examinations of first semester start on December 7th, which means we have just one week left to prepare to do our best. As a sophomore I am a little better off in terms of work load and stress than most juniors and seniors. Those years are the busiest and hardest academically of all the years in high school. I am actually trying to get ready for tha by concentrating on improving my writing skills, because it’s all about writing at Taft, especially in History and English.

Teachers are very helpful in every aspect of preparation for the exams. They have always welcomed us for extra help and are always available to assist. I like this attitude of Taft teachers, and I am sure other boarding schools have similar customs. We were given review packets in each class to work on over the Thanksgiving break, which accumulated all the material we had studied throughout the semester. It helped a lot in terms of reminding us of the prior material, and for clarifying some of the vague concepts (particularly in science and history for me). We have review sessions with our teachers, where we can ask questions, go over the review packets, and learn about the main material covered on the exams. I am actually a bit concerned about the history exam, because we are supposed to write a two or three paragraph essay, each paragraph should be 250-300 words. I am going to meet personally with my history teacher and discuss my areas of difficulty. I am sure it will help. I think I will be completely prepared before I step in to the examination hall and hopefully do well. Wish me the best. Please!

We will have three weeks for Holiday break after the exams, so all this hard work is worth it. I really can’t wait to go home and enjoy Christmas with my friends and host parents, and try some skiing.

That’s it for this week. I will come back to share something new with you guys later.

See you…

Collegium Trip To France - March 2008

I had the privilege of traveling to Paris, Aix en Provence, and Barcelona for spring break with Collegium. It was one of the best experiences of my life! I feel like my following descriptions will not truly do the trip justice- but I’ll try!

The tour commenced with a stop in Paris where our hotel sat next to the Seine River and in close proximity to the Eiffel Tower. On our first day, we meandered through the Latin Quarter and a group of my friends and I tasted our first crepes with nutella! They were delicious and of course our faces became covered in chocolate!!! We also visited Notre Dame and everyone was moved by the incredible holiness and history presented within the Cathedral’s walls. Our first concert was at the American Cathedral in Paris. Louis Trueheart, a member of Collegium, belongs to this cathedral, so she and her family helped to organize the concert. This made it very personal even though we were thousands of miles from home.

While in Paris, we strolled along the Champs d’Elysees and savored delicious food at cute cafes. French is one of the languages that I am currently studying at Taft, so I was all excited to put it to use! Even though waiters and shop owners would hear my American accent and immediately start to speak English, I’d always ask them to please let me practice. They would be all excited that I was eager to learn their language. On our second night, we ventured to the top of the Eiffel Tower! After waiting in line for a little while, the elevator brought us to the top as the city became smaller and smaller and smaller. While on the tower, the lights began to sparkle while we gazed at the illuminated city below. Personally, I am terrified of heights so my strategy consisted of quickly getting to the top, smiling for one picture and then hugging the walls in the middle until the elevator brought me back to the ground (which I contemplated kissing).

While all of this sounds amazing, I have to say that the highlight of the trip was a cruise down the Seine River on our last night. This event was generously hosted by my friend Matt Bogrand and his parents. Floating down the river, while we were on the inside of the boat, big glass windows allowed for striking views of the major monuments. Parents and siblings were also invited, so my parents and brother attended. Everyone dressed up and we were seated at tables dressed in bright red cloths. My friends and I were mesmerized by the monuments lit up at night while Mr. Fifer, our teacher, sang Old Man River. His incredible, deep voice filled every corner of the boat and sent chills up my spine! Dancing followed which presented my brother and me with the opportunity to practice our swing dancing!

After a couple days, we left Paris via the high speed train, the TGV, toward Aix en Provence. While traveling, we stopped at the Pope’s old castle in Avignon. Inside we found a room with unfathomably high ceilings and bare stone walls. One of my friends pointed out that the room had a great reverberation so we started singing some of our concert’s repertoire. Slowly, the rest of our group filed into the room and joined the song until we created a huge circle. Our voices bounced off the walls and it felt like the whole room was vibrating. After each song, the sound carried for another five seconds- it was really cool to say the least!

In Aix, Mr. and Mrs. Carlson became our tour guides since they spent their sabbatical year there. We held another concert at a Cathedral that was amidst beautiful squares and fountains with more shops and restaurants and friendly people than one can imagine. During the day, we walked through the open markets. I bought some samples of cheese and baguettes to munch on with my friends while looking at the colorful fabrics and pottery. One night, we even went bowling!

While in Barcelona, Mr. and Mrs. Frew and their son, my friend, Max, became our tour guides because they spent their sabbatical year in this city. The weather was spectacular- sunny and warm! We saw all of architect, Gaudi’s crazy creations, which to me resembled drawings from a Dr. Seuss books! At night, the teachers set us free on Las Ramblas where we got a feel for the city’s vibrant night life. Our last concert took place in the Cathedral of Barcelona! In addition to the people who specifically came to hear us sing, dozens of tourists passing through heard our concert. While singing, we overlooked the part of the Cathedral where the members of Spain’s Royalty supposedly attended services. It was just amazing to think that we were making music in a place so entrenched in history. On our last night, we went to a fountain show just outside the city. These HUGE fountains were lit with different colors and the water formed varying patterns while its rhythm matched that of the music playing in the background. My friends and I sprinted to the top of the fountains to see the water roaring toward the sky, while changing from pinks to greens to blues to oranges! After, we ate at a private restaurant and Mr. Fifer again graced us with his awe-inspiring voice. Walking back to the hotel, we stopped in a little alley way to listen to some of the boys in Taft’s a cappella group sing a few tunes.

Boarding the plane was very sad since I knew that the flight signaled my return to reality! At the start of the trip, Mr. Fifer made an excellent point that we might visit these cities again but what will make this trip so special and unique is the singing in such unbelievable places. The Collegium trip was only one of the many great opportunities offered by Taft and I encourage you to look at the photos posted on the school’s website.

Lessons and Carols - December, 2007

After completing our last exams, the entire school was buzzing with excitement. Students were chatting about their winter vacation plans and prancing through the halls humming Christmas carols. Everyone’s mind shifted to the prospect of three whole weeks devoted to nothing more than delving into the depths of relaxation! The final night at school was marked by a holiday celebration called “Lessons and Carols”. This service was held in a local church and incorporated a medley of readings by students and faculty members as well as a performance by Taft’s choir, Collegium, and Taft’s orchestra. The service also included thoughtful words from our Headmaster, Mr. MacMullen and our school’s chaplain, Mr. Ganung. The entire church was overflowing with Taft students, teachers, parents, siblings, and members of the Watertown community.

This is my second year participating in Collegium and the second time that I was able o take part in this beautiful service. I decided that this particular concert is my favorite because the performers and audience alike are illuminated by the holiday spirit. The head of our choir, Mr. Fifer, especially reflected his excitement through a huge smile while conducting us, which made it that much more inspiring to sing. Collegium was accompanied by Taft’s orchestra as well as professional musicians so that songs such as “O Come all ye faithful” were complemented by the trumpet’s sound. The audience was able to join in for the familiar carols which greatly contributed to the warmth in the room. I sang next to two of my closest friends and I was so happy to be celebrating such a cheerful time of year with them.

After the service, everyone migrated next door to see Taft’s jazz band perform. Hannah Bogardus discusses this second half of the evening in one of her journal entries. All in all, it was a fantastic night filled with music and dancing with friends! I feel as though my description cannot do the night justice! Coming together as a community was the perfect way to end a great semester before everyone headed off in different directions for vacation!

Spirit Week - November, 2007

Every year, Taft and Hotchkiss participate in an annual rivalry when all of the Taft sports team play against Hotchkiss’s teams. In preparation for the big day, Taft students dress up in themed outfits for every day of the week. The Spirit Week builds up students’ energy and excitement for the upcoming sports events. This year, Monday was cross-dressing day and it was hilarious to see girls parading around in button-down shirts and ties. However, the boys wearing dresses with chest hair exposed required explanations for the tours of prospective Taft students. Tuesday was deemed “dork day”, and so many students attended their classes with suspenders and pockets full of pens. Wednesday was twin day and most Tafties wore outrageous matching outfits with their friends. Thankfully, Spirit Week eliminates dress code regulations so kids use their creativity to put together fun outfits. I chose to match with three of my close friends. In the photo above, you can see that we decided to wear colorful converse sneakers with black spandex, colored running shorts and tye dye t-shirts. Of course our Pippy Longstocking pigtail braids added character to our ensembles. By the time Thursday rolled around, students were ready to disguise themselves in the “preppiest” clothing in order to look the part for “Biffy and Buffy Day”. Adorned in at least two collared shirts with popped collars, students’ pink and green clothing overwhelmed the hallways. Brightly colored seer-sucker or madras pants added to the various attires. It was a hilarious sight! The best day of all was saved for Friday, “Red Day”. Taft students finished the week garbed in our school’s color. Nearly everyone was covered head to toe in red and some even painted their faces to highlight their red apparel. Walking to my classes, I felt as though I was swimming in a sea of red! Spirit Week is only one of the many wonderful Taft traditions. The amount of school pride was absolutely incredible and filled the school’s atmosphere with excitement for the upcoming Hotchkiss Day!

Planning Winter Formal - February 2008

The theme for this year’s Winter Formal was “Austin Powers,” and as a school monitor, I was lucky to have been part of the team that made the event happen.

When we were first deciding on a theme there were lots of fun ideas thrown out on the table such as Moulin Rouge, Disney, and The Jungle. However, once Austin Powers suggested, the room immediately erupted in unanimous agreement. Brainstorming for the Austin Powers themed dance was the best part. Ann came up with the idea of building two huge golden “go-go” cages, which turned out be one the highlights of the night! We all came together in the art room, two nights in a row, radio blasting Flo’Rida’s smash hit “Low” and drew, painted, and cut out, numerous peace signs, flowers, lava lamps, and dollar signs. Charlie “Bully” Fraker brought snacks and these nights spent pulling the event together were a great.

Mr. Guiffre was a big help to us because he handled everything with the hotel. He helped them plan the menu, the number of people, etc. Mr. G handled all the logistics. In addition, he was able to have the hotel create a “sick” sculpture which consisted of Austin Powers frozen in a huge block of ice. Sammer’s great knack for research kicked in as he found the perfect 60’s band to perform in the dining hall while we ate. (They were so good in fact that more people spent time dancing to the groovy sixties music then eating their dinner!) In addition to thinking of clever ways to decorate the hotel, the school monitors were also in charge of advertising the event. We chose to make a video to show to the student body in assembly. Although the filmmaking process consisted of staying up late to write the script (getting behind on some work – sorry Mr. Torino) and waking up really early (6:00 am) to film, it was all worth it in the end. We were proud of the 18 minute masterpiece that the formal video became.

On the actual morning of the formal, we all had to wake up early to ride to Farmington and decorate the hotel. What seemed like a forty-five minute decoration trip took nearly two hours! The sticky tacks that were bought would not hold the cardboard-Esq. paper we used to make our decorations. We could not use tape because the hotel didn’t want the tape ruining the walls. The “go-go” cages couldn’t fit through the doors, so we had to disassemble the cages and rebuild them in the DJ dance room. The huge “Austin Powers Formal 2008” sign we made was too big so we had to cut it down a bit and find a creative way to hang it in the doorway. Thanks to Luther, we figured out how to make this work. All in all, it was a crazy afternoon. Moreover, I had missed a hair appointment and that was not good because my hair was looking like what one would call…a “hot mess”. Everything worked out in the end, though. The posters and such stuck to the walls (We might of cheated the system by actually using tape…who knows?), we didn’t get a whole lot of confetti on the tables so as not to ruin the linens (another worry of the hotel staff), and we got the “go go” cages rebuilt in the dance hall. My two sisters, niece, and dog "Chi Chi" even came up to school to help me get ready… My sister worked miracles with my hair!

Later that night we returned to the hotel and had the times of our lives. I’m sure you will read in some other journal entry the details of actual event. I have to say that this year’s formal was the best and I will never forget it! Thanks to the class of 2008. Love you guys…

Kodak Presentation - January 2008

Recently, Mr. Ricks asked me to accompany him and Claire Novak, a friend of mine, to Kodak in Rochester and give a presentation. This presentation is particularly important because, if successful, the upcoming South Africa Trip '08 will be awarded $40,000 in cash as financial aid for those that cannot pay the $3,200 it costs to attend. In addition to the funding, the group would ideally receive Kodak cameras to take photographs of the experience as well as a video camera to create a video diary of the group. This video diary would, hopefully, be featured on Kodak's website. You're probably wondering why Kodak would want to sponsor a trip like ours. Well, the answer is that by sponsoring our trip, Kodak would gain a new and fresher face. It would show that Kodak does indeed give back to the community and influence the lives of future young leaders.

I was so excited about attending this trip, but they neglected to tell me we would be flying to Rochester. I am terrified of flying! Moreover, we took a small commuter plane, it was raining/ snowing and those conditions made me even more uncomfortable. From LaGuardia Airport to the Rochester Airport there was a bit of turbulence but I tried not to think about the terrible things that could happen as I allowed the music from my Ipod headphones to fill my ears. I decided that I was going to drown the fear away in music. I closed my eyes the whole flight. Mr. Ricks and Claire both took turns looking in on me and asking me whether or not I wanted to squeeze their hands, but I shook my head and looked at them blankly, not saying a word. I hardly spoke at all during the flight because I am so nervous. The good thing about the whole situation was that before I left school, I called almost everyone in my family and asked them to pray for me. It made me feel better to know that they were thinking of me.

The flight aside, it was interesting to be in the business district of Rochester, particularly at night. Apparently they have a curfew because of high crime rates due to unemployment. There was no one on the streets when we arrived at around 10:00 PM. Rochester used to be a Kodak town employing over 70,000 workers. There used to be several smokestacks along the horizon. The view from my hotel window revealed that there was only one left. Clearly, Kodak has downsized, leaving many former employees without jobs.

The presentation went well and I realized that there was no reason to be as nervous about the whole thing as I had been. Some executives that I met, including Essie Calhoun, Chief Diversity Officer, David Kassnoff, Manager of Community Affairs, and Jeff W. Hayzlett, Chief Business Development Officer and Vice President, were intimidating but all very nice. They were attentive and genuinely interested in what we had to say about our boarding school experience and our trip to South Africa. It was exhilarating to be in a board room amongst so many important people, giving a pitch! I felt like an adult in corporate America. I would like to thank all my teachers and peers that wished me good luck in the halls the morning I left. They all gave me the confidence and the support to go into that meeting with my head held high, ready to represent the school as well as I could. I think we pulled it off but we'll see.

I'll let you know if we got it… :)

South Africa - November, 2007

This year's class in South African Democracy built a shanty in Centennial Courtyard. With this shanty, the class aims to provide the student body with a first hand look at how over a billion people on this planet live. The structure, which was built on a Sunday by students, faculty and some men from the maintenance crew, made for a community affair. It is meant to stand out in comparison to the surrounding plush and orderly Taft facilities.

Because the shanty is right outside of my dorm room, I walk past it going to class everyday and a wave of nostalgia and appreciation washes over me. It reminds of the trip I took to South Africa over the past spring break.

While in South Africa, I saw many shanties similar to the one built here at school. In the townships, I watched as whole families, sometimes as many as fourteen people, lived in one shanty. Ironically, in many of the townships, such shanties are next to functioning cities with houses and in some cases, mansions. It amazed me to see the blatant contrast as well as the blatant ignorance of the people in these cities who refuse to recognize the dire situations of the families in the townships. Sanitation is very poor in the townships, and children could be seen playing with garbage that was laying around everywhere. Most of the shanties do not protect the families in the winter time or when it rains. The shanties were highly susceptible to lightning or fire due to the random electrical wires from the city that hang dangerously close to the ground. Some people from the townships "stole" electricity from these wires. Fires in townships are particularly dangerous and detrimental because of the easy flammability of the shanties as well as the how close they are to one another. That is to say, if one caught on fire, it could easily spread to other shanties destroying many homes.

Being in South Africa made me very grateful for what I have in the United States, but it also helped me see that something has to be done. The people's conviction to just simply live and provide for themselves and their family motivated me to come back to Taft and spread awareness. Why should these people be deprived of the basic necessities in life? Should mere circumstance dictate the downfall of a group of people? It also inspired me to awaken others to these problems, and try to help them understand how they can share their privilege with those in similar situations here and around the world. So, in seeing the shanty being built, I am very proud that members of the Taft community are stepping up and spreading the awareness in such a direct, creative, and compelling way. It is time we, as the youth, joined the war against poverty, malnutrition, AIDS, and all the other issues that affect us on a global scale.