The Bridge, May 2020

VOLUME LVI ISSUE VII

NORTHFIELD MOUNT HERMON

Social Distancing: Even the Trees Are Doing It Adrian Wong ’20 took this photo in California before heading home to Hong Kong.

MAY 2020

Class of 2020, Here’s to You

By Chloe Key ’21 and Sydney duKor-Jackson ’21 For the last issue of the Bridge issue this school year, we wanted to write about the class of 2020 and the memories that they have made on campus over the course of the past four years. We chose seven students and asked them three questions: “What’s your favorite memory from NMH?”, “What’s your favorite place on campus?”, and finally, “What will/do you miss most about NMH?” By putting these stories and memories together, we hope to honor our seniors and the past four years that they’ve spent as part of the NMH community.

What’s your favorite memory from NMH? “One of my favorite memories at NMH was the night before Thanksgiving break this year. Bente, Tilda, Taneyah, [and] Zari … planned this event [to stay up all night] because I had never pulled an all-nighter … [However,] I think I was the only one who really successfully stayed up …

The others took a 15-minute nap which turned into about an hour. Around 5 or 6 am, we ended up watching the sunrise on top of Chapel Hill [which was fun] especially now that I know that I won’t be able to see the sunrise with my senior class … Around 6:30, we went to the dining hall to eat breakfast and we were the only ones there. Afterwards, I drove home and fell asleep for the rest of the day.”

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- Skylar Nieman ’20 “I came in as a sophomore and my old school didn’t do finals. I was getting really nervous before my first set of finals in the winter of my sophomore year because I didn’t know what to expect. On Sunday, before finals week, all my friends went outside and had a big snowball fight because there was kind of a blizzard. That took off a lot of the stress and I remember being a lot less worried after and more relaxed. That made my first year a lot easier.”

- Matthew Shapiro ’20 “My swim season was a lot of fun because I was with my friends and there were 17 seniors this season. I remember being a freshman and always wanting to get to my senior meet and get the rose and poster. Swimming has never been my main sport or even something that I love to do but the team this year really made it worthwhile … After doing it for four years, it was a good end to my swim career.”

- Sydney Chase ’20 “This past fall when we played Avon, the craziest thing happened when we were warming up and all of our fans were on the sideline. We saw about 25 guys running down the hill, and they’re chanting that they’re Avon champs, along with other things to us. We ended up beating them 5 to 0, and it felt like our team really came together well that day. That moment made me feel like I was together as one with my

team for one last time.”

- Khamari Hadaway ’20 What’s your favorite place on campus?

“I really, really miss … and this is such a weird thing to me … but I miss the cross country course. That’s definitely my favorite place because there are so many good memories associated with it for me. And running around on the trails is something that I’ve been doing for the past four years. It’s something that I’ve really found a lot of joy in every time I do it, even though it can hurt in the moment.”

- Isabel May ’20 “The radio room because it’s just so vibey to me. I’ve been hosting my own radio show since my sophomore year. I love having my radio show because sometimes I get to sit there alone, with my own thoughts, and just hang out.

The idea of it is very secretive because it’s like, oh, there’s a room underneath Crossley, in the basement, where you play music and hang out with your friends. I get to hang out, be by myself and also get to be in a more personal space with my friends. At boarding school, it’s hard to find a place like that at times because there are always people everywhere. That’s why I like the radio room so much.”

- Angie Tran ’20 “This question is so easy because I only spend my time in the RAC. [My first favorite place is] in Rowland Studio

Theater, during the day, alone. I go in there and turn the lights off and just lay on the floor or dance by myself …

I have a lot of really important memories associated with being in that room at odd times of the day alone. [Second] is that little landing underneath the big staircase in the RAC. That’s like … my spot. I’ll go and sit there when I’m doing work, listen to music, or hang with friends. I like talking to everybody who walks by, because I know everyone [in the RAC].”

- Ella Bathory-Peeler ’20 What will you miss most about NMH? “I miss all the people, I miss my friends. I miss seeing my friends a ton even though we’re in touch, all the time.

But I’ll miss all the people that I’m not in touch with. I really miss my whole team. I miss my coaches and all of my teachers a lot, and I think that that’s what I’ll continue to miss. I think the thing that’s really special about NMH, all the people that I’ve gotten to know and the community in general. I’ll miss having that environment and I’ll miss all the people that have created that.”

- Isabel May ’20 “I’ll miss having brunch in the dining hall … That was a vibe. I’m going to miss how close I was with all my teachers. Over the years, I’ve had some of the same teachers [who] always checked in on me and tried to be there for me. The third thing I’ll miss

the most is definitely how close the campus is and how everybody knows each other.

Yes, there are cliques but, you know, they’re not closed friend groups. You can go to anyone and talk to anyone. I did One Acts this year, which I didn’t think I was going to do.

There are a lot of things that I did in my time that I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do at other public high schools.”

- Khamari Hadaway ’20 “When it comes to a specific memory, I’m really gonna miss Sunday tech rehearsals … I love the feeling of being so dedicated and immersed in a piece of art that I am forced to spend [six] hours in a dark enclosed space with like 20 other people and it’s the first day of tech, which means it’s the first day of really getting to bond with everybody else in the company or the cast, and I just get so excited to be in that professional space with people I love.”

- Ella Bathory-Peeler ’20

Ella and her friends take their final bow to a standing ovation in You Can’t Take it With You. Photo by Glenn Minshall

Skylar’s early morning view of C5. Photo by Skylar Nieman ’20

Sydney and her team celebrate their last meet. Photo by Kirsten Lamotte

Khamari and his team celebrate crushing Choate 4-0. Photo by Jim Burstein

Matthew Shapiro and his friends continue the senior tradition of climbing Mount Monadnock. Photo by Glenn Minshall

Isabel and some of her 2018-19 teammates after the Pie Race! Photo by Glenn Minshall

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Quarantine: Students’ Stories

By Celes Moon ’21 With the COVID-19 pandemic taking over the world, many people are locked up in their houses to prevent the spread of the virus, and students of NMH are no different. After the decision to move to remote learning was announced, many international students scrambled back to their home countries.

However, these students were met with another challenge: quarantine. Although students have different methods and different lengths of quarantine, let’s take a ride around the globe to hear their stories.

Our first stop is Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where Oliver Luong ’21 shared his story of being in a quarantine camp located on the outskirts of the city. At the camp, Oliver followed a meticulous schedule everyday for 16 days so that he could be tested twice in the period he was in the camp for the virus before he could return home. He explained that his schedule at the camp went like this: • Volunteers (or doctors/military people) come up to my room at around 6:30 AM to give breakfast, water, and take my temperature.

• I am usually just on my laptop the whole time until noon when they give out lunch.

• They measure our temperature again at around 4:00 PM and give out dinner as well.

• I usually do homework in the afternoon and prepare for classes in

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(Left) Angie with the Voorheis family after celebrating Easter together. Photo by Annika Voorheis ’20 (Right). Oliver Luong took this photo while he was living in a quarantine camp in Ho Chi Minh City.

the evening. The time difference is 11 hours so I usually start at 8:00 PM. • After that, I might go for a walk downstairs in the area at night because I can’t go out during the day. Then sleep.

Although Oliver is currently at home, he is undergoing another 14 days of strict self-quarantine, about which he stated, “you could get arrested if you go out for no particular purposes [such as] meeting up with friends.”

Adding to Oliver’s isolation at home, the Vietnamese government issued a lockdown, which could go to the end of April.

When asked about his thoughts on self-isolation, Oliver expressed that he thinks that it is effective, as Vietnam reported less than 300 deaths from the virus. He

also cautioned that “cases are [still] going up fast because people are careless about this disease (going outside and not wearing masks).”

Our next stop is Nairobi, Kenya where Hadija Mahmoud ’20 shared her story in another quarantine facility.

As soon as Mahmoud arrived in Kenya, she was sent to a government facility for an initial 14-day quarantine, where Hadija was tested and results came back that she was negative for the virus. However, Hadija conveyed her frustration when her isolation period was extended even when her second round of results indicated that she did not have the virus.

Like Oliver, Hadija affirmed that she believed that quarantine was effective, yet she added that it was taking a toll on her mental health. “It’s very scary, to be honest, because I am under government

quarantine with strangers.”

The last stop is to Sunderland, Massachusetts, to the Voorheis family house, where Angie Tran ’20 has been staying for the past month.

Angie had plans to go back to her home in Vietnam, yet she had risked not going home in hopes of returning to school to finish her senior year. Currently, she is staying with one of her best friends, Annika Voorheis ’20, and said that she doesn’t really know when she will be going back as the plane ticket prices are too expensive. Also, Angie expressed that she doesn’t want to go to a quarantine camp, similar to the one that Oliver went to.

Although she is sad that she can’t see her mom and her family, she said that she is happy to be able to stay with her friends for a bit longer before going off to college.

Everyday, Angie and Annika keep themselves busy by a

variety of activities such as going for a hike on Mount Sugarloaf, baking cookies, or even going for a drive around town for some fresh air. Like many seniors, Angie is a little dejected by the fact that she is missing out on many senior traditions like senior ditch day or smoking the cigar at graduation, yet she said that the silver lining is that she is experiencing the “ultimate of senior spring.”

Many NMH students around the globe are facing similar experiences to the stories above or are still in quarantine. As the virus continues to spread rapidly, it is important to keep yourself safe by washing your hands and practicing social distancing. And to end with a positive note, remember that we are all in this together!

Friendship is a Two-Way Street

By Chunwen Ko ’21 I always get sad on school breaks. Of course, I enjoy the company of my family and the privacy I don’t always get at school, and I definitely enjoy not having to do schoolwork.

But I also miss seeing my friends, many of whom I am simply unable to see over school breaks because they are too far away.

This is not a normal school break. In fact, we’re not on break at all — though it certainly feels like it at times. The lethargy is still there, though it is now also accompanied by anxiety. I still can’t see my friends in person, even as we have classes to attend and

homework to do. Everything is out of order.

Connecting with friends is also especially hard now. We all know that texting someone is nothing like talking to them in-person. According to FaceTime’s description on the App Store, it’s designed to help you “connect with family and friends around the world”; but we all know it doesn’t really do the trick.

Real-life conversations flow much more smoothly and naturally, whereas video chat conversations feel inorganic and forced. When I FaceTime someone, half of the time, I’m just awkwardly trying to think of more things to say. In the past, I’ve relied on social

media during school breaks as a useful tool to keep in contact with everyone, knowing exactly when we’ll be able to see each other again. Now, knowing only that we won’t be able to see each other for months, social media platforms have become mere cheap alternatives to in-person social interaction.

In the past, I’ve feared that I cared about my friends more than they cared about me. Being in quarantine has given me far too much time to reflect upon my friendships. I came to a realization: how selfish I have been! I’ve expected my friends to care about me even as I excluded myself from conversations

and get-togethers. My fear was completely unfounded, yet I allowed that fear to become my primary social mindset, thus further breaking down my friendships.

With only a little over a year of high school left, I want to make it right. But how am I supposed to reconnect with people when all I have are imitative yet inauthentic, even fraudulent, social media platforms?

Friendship is a two-way street—you get out of it what you put into it. Of course, putting into it is difficult right now because of distance, time zone differences, schoolwork, and family matters, but also because it’s extraordinarily

easy to isolate oneself when at home. But it must be done, even if it means you have to maintain your friendships exclusively through texting and calling. Even if all you feel are disappointment and despair, anger and irritation.

I don’t think I will be able to see as many friends over the summer as I had hoped to, if I get to see anyone at all.

And I don’t expect anything to be business-as-usual when we return to campus in the fall. Friendships, however, are among the few things we have in our control, and letting go when we need to hold on would just be a waste.

New Crisis, Old Problems

By Maria Zabara ’20 While it may seem as though the COVID-19 pandemic has submerged the entire world in a completely new kind of economic crisis, we ought to stay aware of the familiar problems that are arising as part of the fallout.

Why? Because those problems may provide lessons that we had a chance to learn from in the past.

Yes, I am talking about the battered and bruised housing market. Although the housing market is not the “epicenter” of the disaster this time, it is still an actor whose role in the crisis may become increasingly significant as time goes by.

Unlike the housing boom and bust of 2008, the primary causes of which are still subject to debate, identifying the culprit is much simpler this time. Lo and behold, the target of 2020 is… Airbnb.

Naming Airbnb the “culprit” is fair on one hand, due to the flimsiness of the business model that many investors and analysts have been pointing out ever since the company’s launch (Rely on the stability of the housing market? What could go wrong?!), and unfair on the other hand, because of course, they could not predict the perfect storm that came for them in 2020.

Thus, they are both the culprit and the victim.

Due to the restraints and risks of the current global situation, traveling has essentially shut down. For Airbnb “hosts”, this means no revenue. Now, this would not be a problem if, as many people imagine the renting market to work, Airbnb hosts were all simply renting properties that they own and have no other use for. Sure, that would temporarily cut a stream of income, but it would most likely not be catastrophic. Here is where the problem lies. An enormous number of Airbnb hosts (enough to undermine the entire platform) do business as “regular” landlords do, which is an endless cycle of borrowing from banks, mort-

gages, refurbishing properties, and renting them out to generate revenue. This method is known as BRRR: Buy, Renovate, Rent, Refinance. Sounds great, right?

Right. That is, until a pandemic ravages the entire world and demand for shortterm home-stays sinks close to zero, while the mortgages are still on the hosts’ hands.

No revenue from renting out means no mortgage payments, and no mortgage payments mean a tsunami of defaults. From there on, you know the story.

As with every crisis, there are always two sides to the coin. One side is the bad one: that side is for landlords,

banks, and the ambitious plans for Airbnb to go public any time soon. The other side may be an excellent one for those who are looking to shop for properties (banks hate holding on to real estate) and those who can offer services to the former individuals. I will leave it up to you, dear reader, to figure out what those services may be.

So what is the bottom line?

Everybody has a strategy for the “good” times. The key is to have one for the “bad” ones as well.

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Are You Social Distancing Properly?

By Janice Cho ’21 Stay at least 6 feet away from other people. Don’t gather in groups. Avoid crowds and public spaces. Wash or sanitize your hands after touching surfaces. Don’t touch your face. Wear a mask when you go outside.

We’ve all heard of and know the rules when it comes to social distancing. But how seriously are people, particularly NMH students, actually social distancing? The answer can change depending on where they are right now.

In a majority of areas in China, the government took matters into its own hands to monitor and limit the movement of citizens. During the peak of the pandemic, Sophie Zhu ’21 explained that a “health code system was used to limit travel. Your phone tracked where you had been and if you went to a risky area, the code would turn from green to yellow. If you were exposed to infection risk, the code turned red and you needed to be quarantined.”

While other countries haven’t used such measures to ensure proper social distancing and quarantining yet, more and more governments began to urge citizens to practice social distancing as confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased throughout the world.

For example, by the third week of March, the Venezuelan government announced a national lockdown and closed international flights in an effort to “to minimize the chances for the virus to spread here because of how

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In Beijing, more and more people are walking outside, but masks are still a necessity when leaving the house. Photo by Betty Zhang ’21

delicate our healthcare system is,” according to Sofia Lozano ’22, who is currently staying in Venezuela with her mother.

Due to the state of the healthcare system in countries like Venezuela, the actual number of confirmed cases is difficult to know as there is “no way of testing,” Lozano explained. As a result, Lozano stays inside the house as much as possible and only leaves “when strictly necessary.”

Will Kang ’21, who is currently in New Jersey, is similarly staying in his apartment

as much as possible with his mother and sister. “We aren’t able to leave the house as much since we’re very close to the epicenter of the New York outbreak, but we go out in masks and gloves only to buy groceries.” Kang noted that his community is following social distancing rules strictly as they “always wear face masks and do not get into the elevator when anyone else is inside.”

Even in places where there aren’t many COVID-19 cases yet, most people still prac-

tice social distancing. Ruthie Davis ’21, who lives in Greenfield, only leaves the house to go on walks or play volleyball with her mother. While her community is overall following social distancing rules, Davis noted that her mother has seen “a few people in the stores that she goes to that clearly don’t follow the social distancing suggestions or the mask suggestions.”

With a vaccine still expected to take over a year to find, the coronavirus can only be limited through our efforts

to abide by social distancing rules. Due to the frightening ability of the virus to spread whether one shows symptoms or not, social distancing protects not only us but also those around us. Even as “the streets are becoming crowded again” in places like China and South Korea, Betty Zhang ’21, who is currently in Beijing, emphasized, “We should still remain alert to prevent [a possible second] wave.”

Change Doesn’t Have to be Bad

By Ben Womsley ’20 This essay was written at the beginning of Remote Learning for John Corrigan’s AP Language Class.

Change can be expected or unexpected, but it is always inevitable.

I usually hate change. Routines are comforting. I wake up at 6; I snooze until 6:19; I get up; I tiredly put on my clothes; I walk to the dining hall, then to class, then to the gym. Dinner, homework, break/chatting time, more homework, sleep, snooze, eat . . . life goes on.

This routine will be over by June, I know. Graduation is going to come and go, just like me at NMH. Bittersweet. And then it’s off to college. Scary.

Sure, this is change, but it’s all part of the plan. Since I arrived at NMH, I knew I would leave. I knew I would go to college. I just didn’t know where. And then, in December this year, I did know where. I had a plan.

So, when Brian told us to bring two weeks worth of stuff back with us in case we were delayed, I ignored him.

I knew I wouldn’t be delayed.

That would change my plans, which I didn’t want. I denied the possibility that I might not return to NMH on the predetermined day at the predetermined time because I had a plan. Even Trump tried to deny the virus’s inevitability.

And now probably everyone in the country, all 300 million of us, is changing their routine.

But, the thing with change is that we sometimes don’t want it, so we assume it’s bad.

our senior spring was supposed to be. Carefree and fun, spending time with friends, enjoying all that NMH has to offer before we leave. We hunger for the planned exit we all had in mind. But now, as we live through what is, we have no way of knowing how we will feel on the other end. I find some solace in the realization that some of the best times of my life have started with scary, sometimes unwanted change.

So, while change is inevitable, it doesn’t have to be bad.

This, I believe.

The Bridge

Founded in 1969 thebridge@nmhschool.org Editor-in-chief Janice Cho ’21 Managing editor Celes Moon ’21 The spring routine of NMH students was changed this year by the coronavirus, leaving the once-bustling campus much quieter than usual. Photo by Glenn Minshall

One of my friends didn’t want to leave his high school and was forced by his parents to come to NMH. He has loved his time here. While it is hard to see the positives to coronavirus now, dismay is usually how forced changes begin.

When I decided to leave home and come to NMH, I couldn’t get this one thought out of my head: I leave home now for boarding school, then I leave boarding school for college, then my childhood is over for good. So, by leaving for NMH, I am leaving home forever. While I would much

rather be on campus for my last few months of high school, I now have the opportunity to reconnect with my home, with my family, before I leave for college. As the second youngest of four kids, odds are this is one of the last times most of my family will be under the same roof for an extended period of time.

My friends and I have a similar situation. I repeated Freshman year, so all of my friends from home — whom I’ve known since 6th grade — are in college. While we aren’t seeing each other because

of the quarantine right now, when restrictions begin to go away we will all be home at the same time.

As I write, here is what I realize: the positives to this extremely shitty situation that I’ve found are all temporary returns to the way my life was four years ago. I’m upset that the big changes I’ve experienced in the last four years are being undone. Four years ago, I never could have guessed that a three month break from grades and school would tear me apart like it has.

We all have visions of what

Digital editor Sydney duKor-Jackson ’21 Design editor Sally Pak ’21 Features editor Dillon Stone ’21 Opinions editor Dariya Kozhasbay ’21 Arts editor Chunwen Ko ’21 Sports editor Leah Sutton-Smith ’21 Photo editor Chloe Key ’21 Social media editor Tram Huynh ’21 Faculty advisor Jennifer Sutton

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Kiley Pillsbury Speaks for the Geese

By Reyna Faust ’21 Kiley Pillsbury, the daughter of Kathleen and Dave Pillsbury, has seen Canada Goose jackets all around campus since she was little. As she grew older, she developed an understanding of the company’s mistreatment of animals, particularly geese and coyotes, through her friend Leilani, and has been trying to educate students on campus about the origins of the jacket. The company traps coyotes and starve them until they die and pluck geese feathers while the geese are still alive.

“I have prepared myself for negative reactions,” Kiley says, as she expects that not all people will be in support of her ideas regarding Canada Goose and animal cruelty. She says her end goal in educating students is “that people will stop buying [the jackets] at a rapid rate and understand that they are hurting animals with every purchase.” She offered other solutions, like buying a heated jacket that is lined with a thin, electrical wire to keep warm, which is much cheaper and works better.

According to the Canada Goose website, the company does “not condone any willful mistreatment, neglect, or acts that maliciously cause animals undue suffering [and it is committed to sourcing materials] from animals which are not subject to willful mistreatment or undue harm.” The company also stated that they “respect the Five Freedoms of the animals that provide the down and

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feathers in our garments.”

Developed in 1965 by Britain’s Farm Animal Welfare Council, the Five Freedoms are global standards for proper, humane animal treatment such as freedom from hunger and freedom from pain. Additionally, a New York Times article recently stated that Canada Goose will begin to use repurposed coyote fur for their parkas.

I spoke with Hannah Khutorsky ’20, the owner of three Canada Goose jackets.

She was aware that her jacket came from a company that uses coyote fur, but admitted that she had not thought about the mistreatment of geese as well. After purchasing her first jacket, she saw on social media a post about the suspected cruel treatment of coyotes for their fur but still purchased two more jackets.

Khutorsky, among many other Canada Goose fans, has justified her purchases by explaining that two of her jackets don’t have fur. Additionally, her response to Canada Goose’s use of goose down was “but we eat chickens.” She clarified that before buying the jacket, she looked at Canada Goose’s website and read its code of ethics. Khutorsky explained that other companies are cruel to animals, but because everyone just puts “all fur people in a box,” Canada Goose is automatically considered cruel to animals. She says, “I feel like Canada Goose is probably better sourced than any other down jacket …

I feel like it’s hard these days to find something ethically sourced … It either hurts

Kiley hopes to educate everyone on animal cruelty beginning right on campus. Photo by Kathleen Pillsbury

animals, or the planet, or children, or something else.” She explained that by supporting the company, it can continue to provide heavy-duty jackets for extreme weather, which is the true purpose of the company.

Still, after hearing about Kiley’s story, Khutorsky feels more conscious: “I felt like I was doing something by

not buying the fur the second time… I would like to see more proof that they are upholding their ethical standards.”

In response to avid Canada Goose fans, Kiley said that people should be more educated on the topic. She feels that being an activist for these animals is important. “I want to speak for the animals

because they can’t speak for themselves,” she says. “It’s not like eating chickens … At home, we only eat chickens that are free-range and local. by eating local, free-range chicken no part of the chicken is going to waste.”

Virtual Sports Keep Us Connected

By Leah Sutton-Smith ’21 There is a lot of uncertainty in the world right now, including for NMH students.

But one thing we all have in common is the comfort we find in each other, and one way we are finding that comfort in this moment is through our sports teams.

All spring teams have been holding biweekly 30 minute Zoom meetings, in which they discuss ways to practice and stay in shape and share how they are doing. The girls’ varsity softball team has been staying connected by sharing their “bud: what we are looking forward to, rose: something great that happened, and thorn: something that didn’t happen the way we wanted to,” said coach Sharon McGuinness. Player Ruthie Davis ’21 said that it has been a difficult adjustment “but we are keeping in touch through the meetings and through social media,” and that being able to talk to her teammates has been “super fun.”

Girls’ varsity lacrosse coach Maud Lonergan said that it has been difficult to adjust because being together as a team “can’t be replicated.”

However, she has been doing her best to keep the team connected: in their Zoom calls, she asks them all to share an “inspirational nugget” and tell the team how they are doing.

She also gives the team “wall ball” skills to practice on their own, which she has been posting on the team Instagram, and encourages her players to get creative with their practice.

The boys’ and girls’ crew teams went beyond Zoom to participate in a virtual competition called March Mania, which is held by Rowers’ Choice, a boat making company. The competitions were informal, but according to boys’ coach David Reeder, over 100 teams signed up for the boys’ and girls’ competitions.

Each knockout round was a different distance, and the teams would erg that distance and then send in their scores.

If they won that round, they would move on, and compete again a few days later. Westerly Gooley ’22 said that “this event pushed me to work with my teammates virtually and stay motivated to work out.”

For the girls’ team, Skylar Nieman ’20, Eliza Atwood ’20, Izzy Campbell ’21, and Lauren Carpenter ’22 were 10th out of 64 teams in the first seed.

They got to the second round of their U19 A Bracket competition before they were knocked out, but that didn’t stop them. They all work out every day, and they also have race days, where they erg 2000 meters all out, or do a certain amount of running or core. Izzy ’21 said that practicing this way is “like the SAT, but for rowing.”

On the boys’ team, Elliot Gooley ’20, Eric Li ’21, Zach Key ’21, and Westerly Gooley ’22 were in the U19 B Bracket, and competed in six competitions to end up in the Final Four before getting defeated.

Coach David Reeder noted that the competition was different than what the team is used to, because they “[had] to just keep winning” in order

Elliot ’20 and Westerly ’22 Gooley erg as part of the March Mania virtual competition. Photo by Westerly Gooley ’22

to move on and continue participating, which is different from the regular season. Team captain Elliot ’20 noted, “[we] had been working out together since the end of the fall, so we were especially committed to continuing our season. We put in hard work all winter to

prepare for the spring, so [it] didn’t go to waste...It was a great way to continue my final crew season at NMH.” These online meetings, practices, and competitions keep students active and energized, and give them a break from the stresses of school,

the news of coronavirus, and whatever their personal situation may be. But most importantly, they keep us connected as a community.

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Two, Separate, Untitled Poems

By Dillon Stone ’21 I wrote this note to myself a few weeks back: when one was fresh

Continue to operate from the inside, out.

when one was new

And that’s my message to you,

back when they were raw,

Continue to operate from the inside, out.

You do.

we, would walk in between the lines together,

When you care about someone, all the extensions cease.

through the lines together,

You are there,

traversing from edge to edge. careless.

there,

explorative.

You are malleable, for the burdens they come to

eager.

realize.

You are made vulnerable to comfort and assure.

Now we lie, too far drenched in what was once - drops

You have always been, you No glance is necessary,

Now, when we walk, there is a destination

Your radiance excludes such precautions.

Now, there is a subscription, an unspoken

You manufacture home in the gazing caresses of

code

your eyes.

You are the ever-evolving piece,

Today, I

the blank that got away.

witness my reflection

Personified by your out-front nature,

and gawk

You have little fears.

Keep asking WHY.

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Head, Heart, Hand, Cardboard, Flour…

By Anna Lucci ’23 and Lulu Calame ’23 Despite online classes and painstaking hours of homework, social distancing has provided NMH students with a lot of extra time. In moments of boredom, some take to the couch, to binge-watch Netflix or Youtube, while some have decided to embark on creative journeys. Picking up new skills, or reinforcing old ones, have resulted in masterpieces, some of which are captured here. This is a compilation of some of the projects that the NMH student community around the world have been working on. Be it cardboard, flour, clay, or pain, NMH is combatting the COVID crisis artistically. NMH stands strong internationally, working with the head, heart, and hand.

Anna Lucci ’23 began decorative cake making again.

A “Kransekake” (left) with a dark chocolate hazelnut mousseline and an “Almond White Chocolate cake” (right) with swiss buttercream and attempted pink peony flowers.

Hadyn Phillips ’21 took up jewelry making, with both beads and sculpey clay.

(Left) Lulu Calame ’23 tried designing her future house and decided to make a model.

It took four hours, but each floor comes off, so you can see Autumn Hood ’23 decided to venture off inside. to her nearest store and purchase a pair of jeans on sale, and paint them with abstract shapes, colors, and styles.

(Left) Hollin Keyser-Parker ’22 has been baking and practicing her calligraphy. Some of her baked goods are shown here.

Sisters Gina Atwood ’21 and Eliza Atwood ’20 decided to spend their time filling up a blank space on their wall in their house with a mural. Although they don’t think of themselves as artists, the sisters said that painting their wall was “a really fun way to keep busy!”

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