The Bridge, Feb. 2021

VOLUME LI ISSUE IV

NORTHFIELD MOUNT HERMON

New Year, Same Drill Features editor Dillon Stone ’21 shares his daily view during winter quarantine.

FEBRUARY 2021

Synchronous Learning’s Learning Curve

By Gina Atwood ’21 Synchronous learning this winter was a new transition for everyone, students and teachers alike. Although there were similarities to the Remote Learning Plan from last spring, there were a few obstacles that were unique to this trimester and seemed a bit more demanding of change. Having split classes, adjusting to being remote full time, and still trying to balance your at-home life was new to most NMH students, yet many seemed to be tackling these challenges head-on.

From AP classes to art classes, students and teachers mixed up their usual routine to create a learning environment that matches that of being on campus.

My experience with synchronous learning began after Thanksgiving break. Taking classes like AP Spanish and Theology of the Oppressed has shown me the importance of being organized and having more structure. Instead of sitting in my bed and listening to class, I made sure to find a desk to aid my learning. I still kept my agenda that I would normally use at school, to keep on top of all my assignments. In this way, I was able to obtain a level of normalcy that has been so scarce this year.

However, not everything this trimester was that clear cut. I am also taking Ceramics, which mostly consists of me sitting in my basement with 30 pounds of clay and not really knowing how to work with it. Mona Seno, the

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students online and in class a sense of community.”

Understandably, this year has been filled with firsts.

Whether you were taking Computer Science or Ceramics, synchronous learning presented all sorts of challenges.

However, each individual experience nurtured completely new skills. If I hadn’t wrestled with the 30 pounds of clay in my basement for three weeks, I wouldn’t have the persistence and creativity that I do today.

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Founded in 1969 thebridge@nmhschool.org

One of Gina’s clay creations from her ceramics class in synchronous learning. Photo by Mona Seno.

ceramics teacher, worked tirelessly to create a comfortable dynamic where all students can ask questions and help if they need it, yet innately there is an individualistic component to online learning.

In addition to that, there were technical aspects of taking an art class at home that prove to be very new and difficult. Worries about how to get all my finished pieces to school without breaking them on the plane were something I never imagined would be on my mind. Overall, it was a learning process that taught me to think more critically and creatively and also allowed me to foster new connections with peers with-

standing similar struggles.

Another student navigating the ups and downs of synchronous learning was Arden Bacon ’21. Taking AP Psychology and Global Women’s Literature, she had to work to balance her school work with her family life. She explained, “Having a separate workspace is really important. It gives me the separation I need between relaxing and school.” This way she could simulate the routine that students abide by on campus.

In addition to the physical adjustments of online learning, Bacon also had to adapt to the new split classroom dynamic. She emphasized that during class, “It can definitely

be intimidating to speak out loud over Zoom when you know there are already kids in-person.”

Because there are both students on and off campus, teachers had to alter their curriculum to make every student’s voice heard. Math and computer science teacher David Warren finally found a method that fostered connection and collaboration in learning even with a divided class. He said, “I limit how often I lecture and make sure to break the students up into groups where they are able to work through POGILs [Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning] together. These recurring groups give both

Editor-in-Chief Janice Cho ’21 Managing Editor Celes Moon ’21 Digital Editor Sydney duKor-Jackson ’21 Layout 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

Jim Shea: Reflecting on the Riot Interview by Janice Cho ’21 The world entered 2021 in hopes of a fresh start after 2020. Six days into the new year, the U.S. Capitol was stormed. Jim Shea, NMH’s Government and Civil Liberties teacher, witnessed these events unfold live on television, as what he teaches in class — “that age old question of individual rights and civil disobedience versus what’s in the best interest of public safety and the common good” — appeared on his TV screen.

The Bridge spoke with Jim Shea about his reflections on the events of January 6th and the greater issue of the limit of individual rights in the U.S. How did you find out about the storming of the Capitol?

I’m a political junkie. I follow the news all the time.

I settled in on my couch to watch the reading of the [electoral] results. They started off with Alabama and Alaska… and then they get to Arizona — the first of state elections that was challenged. Part way through that, the chaos broke out. That’s when word started coming out that the Capitol was being stormed. I was watching the results thinking it would just be a formality and all of a sudden, this riot breaks out, so then I proceeded to watch it for the rest of the day, rest of the night.

What was your reaction?

Complete and utter surprise and complete and utter lack of surprise. This was, in

A shocking start to 2021 arose at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Photo by Martin Falbisoner (via Wikimedia Commons).

some ways, so predictable.

For months, since November 3rd, even before that, Donald Trump and many Republicans were telling people that the election was stolen… When you feed people that false lie, it was almost inevitable that certain groups of people were going to interpret it in such a way. If something was stolen from you, you’d do what you could to get it back as well if it was something as important as an election.

What surprised me was the breach of the Capitol and how unprepared every group of law enforcement was. This was all over social media, the dark web, [and] conspiracy

theory websites. They announced that there was going to be this demonstration, that they were going to take the Capitol, and it was all out there.

What do you think are the roots behind the riot?

They certainly didn’t start with Trump — and I don’t mean to absolve Trump. He deserves all of the blame being foisted upon him, including the impeachment, but it didn’t start with him. He tapped into something that was out there, and that’s the thing that our country has to figure out. If we think that once Trump’s out of office this problem is going

away, we’re seriously mistaken. Trump [has gone] away, but the forces that he tapped into are not going away.

Where would you draw the line for individual rights such as freedom of speech or assembly?

Whether the events of January 6th happened or not, [this question] is a part of my curriculum every year: that age-old question of individual rights and civil disobedience versus what’s in the best interest of public safety and the common good. There’s no answer. We’ve been struggling with this in the United States for 230 years now.

Individual rights are the beauty of the American system of government, but it also makes it messy. Democracy is messy. Are we comfortable with that? Because, if we’re not, and we decide we’re going to crack down and not allow people to speak what they want, assemble where they want, and post on social media what they want, there’s a slippery slope that we can go down. If the government starts telling us what we’re allowed to say, when we’re allowed to say it, and where we’re allowed to assemble — this is the age-old battle. What are the limits to the rights we have?

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Dr. Rourke Deals With COVID World

By Cynthia Zhang ’23 From testing to quarantining to getting acclimated to in-person classes under restrictions, there have been countless factors and possible risks that need to be accounted for when students returned to NMH — not to mention the possibility of positive cases on campus. Every day, Dr. Sara Rourke ’94, along with the team of nurses at the O’Connor Health and Wellness Center, works from morning to night to enable smooth transitions and minimize risks.

Ever since COVID-19 emerged last year, Dr. Rourke’s job has become largely administrative. She starts her workday by checking her email right when she wakes up at 6 A.M., looking for any urgent updates or information. “Some of the questions that come in overnight are from day students and faculty who may be sick and wondering if they should come to work or get tested. I try to make sure I get on that very first thing in the day so that people can make their plans accordingly.”

By 8:30 A.M., Dr. Rourke arrives at her office and immediately checks in with patients admitted overnight or from the previous day. She said this ensures “both a physical and mental health component [of the Health Center] — that the nurses have all the support they need to care for the kids.”

Then, she usually hops back on to her computer and carries on with a blend of numerous meetings and emails. “It’s

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Dr. Rourke and her staff work hard day and night to ensure the health and safety of the NMH community. Photo by Julia Swanson.

really an uncountable number of emails that come in during the day.”

When coping with issues on campus related to COVID-19, Dr. Rourke anticipated the effect of COVID-19 on students’ and faculty members’ mental well being. “How is this period of life — being distanced from each other, and not seeing each others’ faces [while] interacting — going to affect our mental health, our relationships, and our ability to form relationships?” She explained, “Psychiatrists have equated living through COVID-19 to a trauma event, [like] having a

reaction similar to PTSD.” Amid “skyrocketing numbers in anxiety, depression, and suicide” along with “a lot more that’s out there that we aren’t aware of,” Dr. Rourke is thankful that “we have enough mental health resources at school for our students, but who knows? Next year, it might be different. We don’t know.”

As she has continued to facilitate NMH’s adjustment to COVID-19, Dr. Rourke admitted that she had not expected how readily students were able to adjust to the changes that were implement-

ed, especially since cooperation expedites the process of having to test everybody.

She stated, “I really thought the kids would have a much harder time wearing masks, especially with sports. The students are very cooperative when we do testing — much better than the adults.”

When asked if her work took away her personal and family time, Dr. Rourke remarked that work “for all of us, no matter what you’re doing now, takes up a lot more time.” What’s essential for her is to “make sure that [she] can be available to [her family],

as well as being available to NMH.” As she maintains her worklife balance, Dr. Rourke is thankful to her colleagues and students for cooperating to make her work easier. She emphasized that teamwork is key to being successful, particularly in this unprecedented year. “We’ve had to shift our work hours, work extra, and be flexible to open [NMH] over breaks to support the students … and everybody has been a hundred percent willing to do that.”

Kevin Czepiel, Former Underdog

By Joe Solimine ’21 Growing up in the hockey world, Kevin Czepiel dealt with many doubters who said he was too small to play at the Division 1 collegiate level.

Yet rather than setting him back, these comments ignited a fire inside him, providing him with the mentality that nothing would stop him until he reached his goal of playing at that next level.

Every high school kid who truly loves the sport they play can agree that a major goal is to play at the Division 1 level, a rare feat to achieve. One has to be willing to dedicate a large portion of their time and effort to that one sport, and to maintain that over a long period of time. When asked about his own journey, which ultimately resulted in him committing to UMass Amherst, the first thing Kevin said was, “It takes a tremendous amount of dedication and commitment.”

No one wakes up with the super-natural ability to be the best at what they do. Everything that Kevin accomplished was earned through hard work. “He trained six or seven days a week and maintained a very strict and healthy diet,” said Kevin’s wife Emily. “He spent weekends playing hockey instead of hanging out with his friends, and he always put hockey and getting better first.” It was a sacrifice he had to be willing to make because there could always be someone out there working harder and wanting it more.

Kevin’s personality and qualities as a coach make it

After training hard as a D1 hockey player, Kevin Czepiel now trains the boys’ varsity ice hockey team as Head Coach. Photo by Glenn Minshall.

easy to see what he would’ve been like as a player. “I could imagine Kevin as a hard-working kid who was persistent in his actions and always stuck to the process,” said Parker Mabbett ’21, an NMH hockey player.

Kevin didn’t get much handed to him when it came to hockey. He had to constantly work to get where he wanted to be by proving his doubters wrong. Some thought that his

size put him at a disadvantage on the ice and that he would struggle to get recruited to a Division 1 school. Because he was on the smaller side, standing at about 5 feet 7 inches, he had to work twice as hard to stand out among other players. Kevin stated, “I thrived off being a smaller player. People always doubted me or told me I couldn’t play at the Division I level because I was too short. It put a chip

on my shoulder.”

Any athlete knows that keeping themselves physically in shape is essential for performing to the best of their ability.

But what flies under the radar for most athletes is their mental state and overall mindset, which are equally important.

This is how Kevin set himself apart from the rest of the pack when competing for spots on a team. He instilled something inside himself that he

described as “that mentality that you couldn’t stop me, and if you did, I was going to come back and either score a goal or hit you.”

Kevin kept this mindset no matter who he was playing against. He maintained an inner swagger, believing that he was the best player on the ice. Even if it wasn’t true, that mentality set him up for success.

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From NMH to College Abroad

By Reyna Faust ’21 During the college application process, it often seems like a given for many students in American high schools to only apply to American colleges. Yet this isn’t the case for all. My sister Ana, studied most of her life in America, but decided to attend college in Brazil due to her dual citizenship. Even at NMH, a handful of students have applied and ended up attending schools outside of the U.S. each year for a variety of reasons. A group of NMH alumni attending foreign universities, along with a current senior applying to schools outside of the U.S., shared their reasoning.

Alisa Kravtchin ’20: University of Toronto (Canada), transferring to a yet-to-be-determined university in London (England) Alisa Kravtchin ’20 was a one year senior at NMH who applied to Canadian colleges because the application was much easier. However, after relocating to London due to COVID and falling in love with the city, she has made the decision to transfer to a college in London. She described her experience applying as much more challenging.

“The scores and grades you need are much higher than the average scores and grades you need to get into [Canadian] or U.S. colleges.”

Jorge Villa Gonzalez ’18: University of Valladolid (Spain)

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Jorge Villa Gonzalez ’18 took a PG year at NMH to improve his English, try living far away from home, and experience a different culture. He was recruited to NMH for the varsity soccer team. “There is no application process, like in American schools.” He explained that based on his high school grades, mandatory and optional test scores, he explained that each student applying receives an overall score. This overall score often determines the school and major that students end up pursuing. Jorge’s initial plan was to spend a year in America and then return to Spain until his college counselor, Jim Burstein, encouraged him to apply to some schools in

the States. Jorge explained, however, that he needed to be recruited as an athlete and receive a lot of financial aid in order to attend an American college. Although many schools showed interest, he decided it would be best to return to Spain.

Ami Zunenshine ’18: Concordia University (Canada) Ami Zunenshine ’18, a Montreal native, returned to Montreal for college. Recruited for hockey, he came to NMH as a new junior after many of his friends from his team in Montreal had gotten recruited for prep school teams and hearing how much they liked it. He felt that being at NMH would “take [hockey] to the

next level and expose me to new opportunities.”

Still, Ami made the decision to return to Canada because he still had connections in Montreal and didn’t mind returning because a Canadian education is much cheaper.

Although he did apply to American schools, they did not offer enough financial aid.

Education-wise, his school differs from his experience at an American school because he says that his particular school has less class time and a much larger class-size as classes can range from 100-200 students depending on the course. He misses the campus feeling that NMH provided, but is still enjoying the city life in Montreal.

Savannah Byrne ’21: prospective student for colleges in Canada Savannah Byrne ’21 is currently preparing for college.

Many factors have led to her decision to apply to schools outside of the United States.

One factor is that she is already a dual citizen of Canada.

Another factor is that the application to Canadian colleges was very simple. To apply, all she had to do was send in her test scores and GPA. She says that the opportunities in Canada and the USA are similar so her college decision will depend on the affordability of each school. Ultimately, she stated, “it’s what you make out of the college experience.”

Once part of NMH’s varsity soccer team, Jorge Villa Gonzalez ’18 continues to play soccer at the University of Valladolid. Photo courtesy of Jorge Villa Gonzalez ’18.

Emily Salfity in the Spotlight

By Kwabena Appiah ’22 With a top-tier production quality and dedicated students and staff working together to create extraordinary artistic performances each year, it’s no surprise that many enjoy watching NMH’s theater productions unfold.

But who exactly is responsible for making each production run as smoothly as possible? That is the responsibility of the technical director, who is in charge of all the backstage and technical aspects of a theatrical production.

Before winter break, I had the pleasure of talking with Emily Salfity, NMH’s new technical director and American literature teacher.

Before coming to NMH, Emily taught English at the

American School of Bangkok and a school in northern central Mexico. Prior to teaching English, she was the assistant technical director at a private school on the North Shore of Boston. “I’ve sort of been going back [and forth]…

I was doing theater, and then I had English in the middle.

Now, I’m back to theater and English mixed.”

She found her experience in Thailand to be especially informative: “Education was really important, but… in Thailand, it was a little bit different in that we were encouraged to give homework, but also to remember that students had sports commitments and family commitments.”

Now at NMH, Emily balanc-

es being both the tech director and an English teacher. “It’s really hard. It’s really hard because one, it’s two different departments that meet at the same time. And two, the topics that we focus on in both of the disciplines are not necessarily the same.” In order to balance the two roles, Emily says, “I sometimes pull topics from my theater background and apply them to how we can analyze American literature.”

Emily gets creative inspiration from talking to others about ideas. “To get my creative juices flowing, it’s not a solitary activity. I really love to see [my students’] research and to see, ‘Okay, what are images or sounds that make you invested in this show?’”

She doesn’t just appreciate learning from her students’

stuff before you get on campus.” For example, the basketball and lacrosse teams “were doing Zoom [meetings] over the summer, so you got to feel like you were [already] a part of the team.” Being a recruit allows you to come to NMH already with a community of people you know.

Similarly to Grace, Grant Gonzalez, a track and cross country coach, explained the benefit that comes with the community you have coming into NMH: “You have an entryway.”

This community can especially prove beneficial in years like this one. COVID-19 has impacted many areas

of life for athletic recruits.

Since games and on-campus visits are not taking place, recruiting athletes to NMH has become an “intensification of what was done in the past,” said Grant. The recruiting process, though it may differ by sports, now includes extended efforts to make athletes feel the connection to NMH without the experience of being here.

While some public gyms may be closed, NMH provides a safe environment to continue to grow as an athlete even during the pandemic. “I feel like I gained a lot more than I ever have,” said Brynn Charron ’22, a field hockey recruit.

“Through the [fall] season, we were working on our personal [athletic] skills and there was personal time with your coach rather than worrying about games.”

Though recruits have gained opportunities to improve on a personal level, the loss of games still hits hard. Coming into NMH as an athlete, competing in games is not only expected but a highlight of the experience. Grace said, “I feel like games build so much of a team.” Team connection off the field is important, but “going through wins and losses together builds another kind of team.”

For some athletes, coming

Photo by Chloe Key ’21.

work: collaboration is one of her favorite things about theater. “You can design or create something and then hand it to someone else. And they can sort of redefine it, or change it in a way that makes it so much better and so much stronger… like a new brain steps in and elevates the choices.”

When asked what he thinks of Emily, Rafi Shalabi ’24 described, “She’s really great.

She’s super nice. I’ve taken two classes with her, Performing Arts and Theater Tech, and they’re both a lot of fun.”

Nick Swanson ’22, another of her students, joked, “She’s a bit too safe. She doesn’t let us do dangerous things. Other than that, she’s a great person and great director.”

in as a recruit, with or without a pandemic, also sets an expectation for them to succeed and be their best, even if that is a standard set by themselves, which adds extra pressure. Brynn added, “Others expect that you’re going to be great and it creates an expectation that I have to be my best always.”

Many members of the NMH community are athletic recruits. The experience comes with both challenges and benefits—it’s a unique way to go through high school—but no recruit regrets it.

A Strange Year for NMH Recruits

By Carra Fitzgerald ’24 Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a sports recruit at NMH? How about during an unpredictable year like this one? There is no doubt that being a sports recruit provides a different experience for students, but how has the pandemic affected that?

Being a recruit at NMH has its ups and downs. The experience often varies depending on your sport, grade, gender, and more, but it’s exciting nonetheless. Grace Harvey ’23, a soccer, basketball, and lacrosse recruit, appreciates that “you get to be a part of

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Seriously, Stop Saying “Be Yourself”

By Janice Cho ’21 “Be yourself.”

We’ve all heard this before.

Maybe it was on the poster in your middle school teacher’s classroom, followed by the equally cliché phrase, “Everyone else is already taken.”

Or, perhaps it was the go-to “advice” used by your parents, celebrities, or even you, when you couldn’t be bothered to come up with anything better.

Regardless of when or where you’ve encountered it, your gut reaction to this hackneyed phrase has most likely evolved into a sigh of distaste or a roll of the eyes.

To this day, I still think that “Be yourself,” when used unironically, is one of the worst pieces of advice you can give someone. It’s vague, overused, and certainly not helpful to hormonal teenagers going through habitual identity crises. After all, how can you be yourself when you don’t even know who you are?

Yet, after months of filling out college applications, visiting info sessions, and writing the most essays that I’ve ever written within this timespan, I understand why people say it, especially in the context of college admissions. This whole “be yourself” thing isn’t completely wrong. Rather, it’s been misinterpreted.

Before you cringe, let me explain. The summer before my senior year, I decided to write my Common App essay (one of the greatest sources of stress for seniors) about a recent hobby of mine — baking sourdough — that seemed “quirky” enough to mold a

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The unfortunately common experience of many underclassmen. Illustration by Janice Cho ’21.

“unique” first impression of myself to admissions officers.

With this topic, it took me three grueling months to complete a first draft and another two to edit and revise like my life depended on it; but, I ultimately hated the essay — not because it was necessarily bad but because it was missing something. I just didn’t know what that “something” was.

A month before the application deadline, I decided to start over with a brand new topic: a personal story about my growth from a voiceless little girl to a content but confident introvert. Met with a blank page once again, I was,

to say the least, scared. Yet, unlike the past frustrating five months, once I actually got my first sentence written out, I was able to keep writing. I finished a draft in six days and a final draft three weeks later.

The something that I needed, and that all strong college applications need, was to get personal. That is what “be yourself” should actually translate to: get personal.

Obviously, these two words might seem just as vague as the other. However, to the desperate underclassmen reading this article for concrete advice on college apps, this is the actual key to mak-

ing your application journey a little bit easier.

“Get personal” doesn’t mean that you should spill every single intimate detail about you in your applications. Remember, the people reading these are admissions officers, not your therapist.

Instead of wasting time and effort on creating a persona that you think will get you into college, consider the details and experiences that make up your personality and life — this is where “Get personal” succeeds over “Be yourself.”

While you may not know exactly who you are, you can still pinpoint the things that

you think contribute to your bigger picture.

Whether you get personal, be yourself, or whatever, there will always be one piece of advice however that trumps them all: college isn’t your beall and end-all because, let’s be real: the College Board is a scam, admissions isn’t fair, and college is just four out of who-knows-how-many years you’ll live.

But, of course, we’re all students and most of us are destined to stress out over college no matter what anyone else says so, in that case, all I can say is get personal. Good luck, kids.

Firm But Goofy: Tom Bloom’s Way

By Hazel Reeder ’23 “How are you doing?”

When swim coach Tom Bloom greeted Sophia Woo ’23 on campus, she thought that he was asking about her time in the pool. She responded that she didn’t have a lot of time to swim and her times might be slower this year.

Tom interrupted her and asked, “No, how are you doing?” That is the type of person Tom Bloom is. He cares about students for more than their abilities, he cares about their emotional wellbeing.

Tom grew up in a very athletic family with brothers who all played multiple sports which were heavily encouraged by his parents. However, when Tom was younger, he was told by a physical therapist that he was too frail to play with them. Neither Tom nor his family would accept this.

As a result, he took on extra sports, playing soccer, baseball, basketball, and swimming. Relying on his intelligence to make up for where he lacked in muscle, Tom says that he “worked harder than everybody else did and was always able to keep up. I became a pretty serious varsity athlete even though I didn’t have any business being one.”

Around the same time that Tom was discovering his varsity skills, he became fascinated with history. He explained, “I was really obsessed with ancient Greece and Rome.

As a result, I found Latin.”

He studied the subject for all four years of high school and in college as well. At college,

Tom also discovered his love of working with kids while volunteering at a local swim team. Tom decided to focus on teaching, following in the footsteps of his parents.

After college, Tom got an internship at Choate Rosemary Hall and later, a fellowship at Noble and Greenough School, which only solidified Tom’s fondness for teaching.

In 2014, Tom came to NMH, moved into the third-floor apartment of London, and has been working here ever since.

Tom continues to teach Latin and coach soccer and swimming.

Tom’s coaching strategy

is focused on helping students succeed. On the swim team, Tom rarely makes cuts because he “wants the team to be a place where, if people push themselves, they can become varsity athletes. We see a lot of kids who wouldn’t be on varsity at another school, and seeing them realize they’re physically capable is wonderful.” Tom hopes he can help kids find their strengths and use them to their advantage, just as he did in high school.

In the dorm setting, Tom is straightforward with the people around him. David Warren was Tom’s neighbor

in London and has seen Tom grow to become the dorm head he is today. In the six years he lived with Tom, David noticed that Tom “has a way of working with people where he isn’t passive-aggressive. He calls it as he sees it.”

Tom agreed, saying, “I try to talk to kids the way I talk to friends or family members.

To show someone respect requires not coddling them.”

Dillon Stone ’21, a Resident Leader in London, appreciates Tom’s attitude while working with kids. When he was in ninth grade, he always loved the dorm meetings because of Tom’s humorous attitude.

“When Tom is talking about very serious things, he does in a way that is relatable and down to Earth,” Dillon said.

“He is ready to have difficult conversations — he is comfortable in challenging situations.”

Tom hopes his respect will help students mature into better people: a sight that he never grows tired of. Tom describes his situation as “working with kids who, for the first time, are away from home. They are figuring out who they are and how to be a person.”

From the swimming pool to the classroom to the dorm, Tom Bloom focuses on helping students grow. Photo by Sofia Lozano ’22.

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COVID in the Amazon Rainforest

By Peter Luo ’23 The lush and towering vegetation of the Amazon rainforest might seem like a natural barricade against the spreading pandemic. At least, that’s what I thought. In the summer of 2019, I worked with Dr. Richard Bodmer, a leading scientist in the Peruvian rainforest for two weeks.

Dr. Bodmer fell in love with the rainforest during his PhD studies at Cambridge University and is now an anthropology professor at University of Kent in the UK. He is also a peccary specialist for the International Union for Conservation of Nature. With over 35 years of continuous research and conservation in the Amazon, he has successfully handled a plethora of issues, including the establishment of a holistic conservation system that helps the Peruvian government efficiently protect the environment while reducing conflicts between officials and the indigenous people.

Peru, along with the rest of the Americas, received a hard blow. According to the World Health Organization, the country has, as of January 30, had a total of 1.12 millions confirmed cases of COVID. Under quarantine protocols from the local government, Bodmer and his team had to evacuate from their research site to the nearest city of Iquitos, Peru’s “Jungle Capital.”

As the largest city in the world that cannot be reached by terrestrial transportation, Iquitos soon became a cradle for community transmission.

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Returning from a survey of river dolphins in the Amazon in the summer of 2019. The pandemic has interrupted the collection of data and maintenance of research boats and equipment. Photo by Peter Luo ’23.

Because of its inaccessible location, healthcare equipment soon ran out, and people who experience symptoms have to continue quarantining without receiving treatment. Although Bodmer and his team received limited medication, he and most of his colleagues still suffered symptoms from the virus in May 2020, including one who eventually died from complications caused by COVID. The rest of Iquitos faced a similar situation.

Aside from their direct exposure to the virus, the team also suffered from the impacts of the lockdown. The remoteness and inaccessibility of the rainforest allow only the most primitive way of researching

— lots of human work. During the two weeks of working under Bodmer’s team, I engaged in the task of monitoring the population of various kinds of wildlife ranging from mammals to fishes. This work included manually counting and recording population density along with capturing specimens and recording the value of their individual data.

Typically, volunteers like myself from all over the world help keep the tasks running, but none could travel to Peru under the current conditions.

Furthermore, the team is facing a dwindling budget, and even under the condition of “[pausing] all research work,” is making expenditures without sources of income due

to the regular maintenance of research equipment.

Quarantine also means the loss of valuable data. In the past year, the conservatories around the world have seen surges in poaching due to low regulation. Yet, Bodmer’s view on the Amazon is a bit more optimistic. “I suppose the animals are doing fine because people cannot sell the products to the markets, so there should be less hunting.”

However, he also carefully noted, “We cannot be sure,” due to his absence at the research site.

On a larger scale, losing the data of 2020 has also interrupted Bodmer’s prediction of climate patterns. Since 2012, the team has been observing

irregularities of floods during the rainy season, potentially caused by global warming.

Without this year’s data, Bodmer’s plans to create new directions and methods of conservation have been hindered.

“Right now, we just need to survive,” Bodmer said on a grim note, “and see how we can recover from there.” Despite the hardships of reality, he still expressed hopes of life after the pandemic. “We know that the world needs to change. Now that the world has gone through such difficult times, we hope that people will reflect… and confront this world in a brighter and better way.”

The Anatomy of a Viral Video

By Lulu Calame ’23 The concept of a viral video is nothing less than a social phenomenon. In less than 24 hours, tens of millions of completely random people look at the same video. All of a sudden, this video “blows up.”

While this concept is not new, the recent popularity of TikTok has fueled a new wave of this viral phenomenon.

Teenagers who made an account for fun became celebrities in less than a year through viral videos, gaining up to 100 million followers on the app.

But why do videos go viral?

There must be human factors that, when put together, make something viral. There are millions of videos of people doing the same dance, but which ones get millions of views, and why? After thinking about this very question, I created the following 10 categories to cover every major aspect of a viral video: 1. Attractive people 2. A fluke coincidence caught on camera 3. Raw talent discovered (dancing, singing, baking, etc.)

4. Weird talent 5. Pure charisma/humor 6. Celebrities making TikTok videos (the Rock, Billie Eilish) 7. Mocking (these people make a video that goes viral for reasons not intended) 8. Cute old people + cute animals 9. Emotional videos 10. The shock factor/unexpected The last category, the shock factor, is perhaps the most

This viral TikTok video by Evan Smith ’23 has over one million views and 250 thousand likes. Screenshot

by Alex McCullough ’23, video by Evan Smith ’23.

important and applies to the majority of viral videos. When a video is viral, it is not because the creator is famous — quite the opposite. Videos are viral when someone comes out of the blue with something that has a shock factor, which may be attractiveness or pure

talent. Ultimately, people want to be surprised, and when they are, the content has the chance to go viral.

Evan Smith ’23 is a TikToker with almost 80,000 followers on the app and three videos with over 1 million views. His most popular video

– a reaction to an objectively bad singer on youtube – has gotten over 2 million views and 400,000 likes. Evan says that he has no logical explanation for his videos’ popularity, but he thinks “that the video was really original. I haven’t seen anything like it recently,

and I think that is what made it get popular.”

Evan could closely relate to the mystery of viral content.

He recently posted a video as a joke and it has amassed over 200,000 likes, with another one recently passing 250,000. With Evan’s input, I came to the conclusion that a viral video is triggered by something, big or small, that is relatable and enjoyable to a wide audience. “It can be the littlest thing, like a bug in somebody’s hair,” Evan added, “the most liked video [on TikTok] is a girl bouncing her head. I think it has over 40 million likes.”

This girl, Bella Poarch (who, to clarify, definitely does not attend NMH), went viral with a video that eventually amassed over 43 million likes — the most liked video on the app. In this video, the camera is zoomed in on Bella’s face and she bops her head to a song while making strange facial expressions. The video is hard to describe, but the elements were there: #1 (attractiveness), #4 (weird talent), and #10 (the shock factor).

While the true logic behind a viral video might not even exist, one can draw some conclusions. The first is in the nature of Gen Z, today’s teenagers and young adults, itself.

Our generation has a way of latching onto one viral idea or person for a short period of time until the next one comes along. “It’s almost like a chain reaction where it just keeps going,” Evan insightfully concluded.

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“I Feel Free When Playing Soccer”

By Aaron Burstein ’23 Darley Florvil ’21 lived the first 15 years of his life in the Cite Soleil neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Darley described his hometown as “a place where I learned what to do, what’s good, and what’s bad.” One of the things that has stayed with Darley throughout his life is soccer.

With a grin, he said, “I have played soccer since I was five years old.” Being a soccer player eventually brought Darley to NMH. Darley first arrived at NMH last fall as a PG. “When I first came here, I was nervous since I didn’t know nobody.”

However, he was quickly able

Photo by Nick Cruze.

to gauge the culture of the school from his soccer team and dorm, UNC. “Everybody was very friendly and hospi-

table. That’s one thing I like so much about NMH. The faculty members here help you so much.” Despite the social distancing restrictions, Darley was still able “to meet new people and they opened up to me and accepted me as a friend.”

Soccer has done that for him as well. “I’ve had so many opportunities that opened doors for me.” Due to Darley’s character and soccer ability, he got into a program in Haiti called the Sanneh Foundation.

Through this program, he got to meet the Daniels family, who provided a home for him in Minnesota. His transition to the U.S. was a brand new experience. “I remember my

first winter in Minnesota. It was awesome seeing snow for the first time. I remember my siblings trying to teach me how to skate.”

Of course, living in the U.S. has brought many challenges as well. On May 26, 2020, the entire country watched as Minnesota protested following George Floyd’s death.

For Darley, the protests were especially significant. “It was very sad for Black people, especially Black men.”

Darley was able to participate in one protest himself.

“We are fighting to let them know that Black lives actually matter. Hopefully, after what’s been happening, we can open our eyes and love people for

who they are, not because of their skin color.”

Throughout all the difficult times, soccer has remained a constant for Darley. “Soccer is much more than a sport to me. Soccer has helped me meet a lot of people and brought me to a lot of places that I never thought I’d be in the U.S. Soccer brought me to Minnesota and helped me meet so many nice people. I feel free when playing soccer.”

Soccer also gave Darley the opportunity to go to Northwestern University next fall.

He said, “Northwestern is a big deal for me and I always thank soccer and the people that have helped me for this opportunity.”

The Legend(s) Behind the “Hogger”

By Kevin Kim ’23 Banana Slugs. Fighting Okras. Purple Cows. These are all mascots of notable schools: the University of California Santa Cruz, Delta State University, and Williams College, respectively. Pretty outlandish, but surprisingly, these are only a few of the many bizarre mascots.

The origin or inspiration of these mascots is usually a great story. For example, Delta State University’s Fighting Okra was allegedly inspired by a stubborn okra plant that kept growing on the campus’s baseball pitch.

Similarly, here at NMH, students embrace the Hogger identity despite their amuse-

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ment and confusion about why the school has a Hogger as its mascot. Huey Miller ’23 said, “I’ve seen mascots like tigers and various types of birds, but I’ve never heard or thought of a Hogger as a mascot. It seemed pretty funny.”

This is a common reaction among students and even teachers.

At first, it may seem obvious that NMH got the word “Hogger” from the fact that there is a farm within the campus borders. But there are other stories. One urban legend, according to faculty member Margaret van Baaren, reveals that in the 1900s, the rich students at Deerfield Academy teased Mount Hermon students by calling

them “Hoggers” because they worked at the farm.

Another story says that the Mount Hermon Class of 1970 spawned the term “Hoggers.”

It started as a joke, but became such a valid idea that it ultimately became the school mascot. Peter Huntsman ’70 said that, a few decades back, “Hog-like nicknames became a big part of the Class of ’70.”

There were names like Bruce “Hot-Hogger” Berk, Jim “Rabbit Man of Hog” Eckert, and Tom “Mongoose Man of Hog” Kastner.

This trend persisted and spread throughout the whole school to the point that students started yelling “GO HOGGERS” at athletic events. Peter Weis ’78, NMH’s

archivist, bolsters this story by claiming that the word “Hogger” was a “term of derision but became a term of endearment.”

Although we are aware of an approximate date, how the name grew popular, and which class was supposedly responsible for this feat, no one can confirm the Hogger story despite all the documents stored in the NMH archives. Investigating this rabbithole seems futile. But you can find a record of Jan May, an NMH alum, noting in 2007 that “the term ‘Hogger’ originated with D. Spencer May. His locker was next to mine in the gym and he would very often refer to ‘Mount Hog’ and his fellow football

players at ‘the Hoggers.’”

There are other contradicting stories, however, including one about a JV baseball team creating the word.

It’s been many years, and we’re not getting any closer to an actual answer. Rather than trying to chase after a definite answer, we should consider the bigger questions.

If the NMH mascot had not become the Hogger, would the school be filled with the same students and teachers and the same spirit today? Would we still be the same community that we know now? Who knows what NMH would’ve been like if it was called by another strange mascot name — like the “flying calculators.”

Washington and Hong Kong: A Tale of Two Cities

By Bryan Ho ’22 As I watched the chaos of supporters of Donald Trump storming the U.S. Capitol on TV in January, I could not help but feel a strong sense of déjà vu. The clashes with police officers, the tear gas everywhere, the shouting, the waving of banners, the vandalism — all of these scenes were nearly identical to the ones Hong Kongers were treated to every day two summers ago. The Hong Kong protests also had its own episode in which a major government building, the Legislative Council Complex, was stormed and damaged.

Wilson Cheung ’24, who is from Hong Kong, agreed that “both incidents involved violent protests that created social instability.” The months following the Hong Kong protests marked a period of unprecedented social unrest. The number of arrests skyrocketed, massive property damage was inflicted, and many once-vibrant streets looked like warzones.

But aside from the common themes of violence and vandalism in Washington and Hong Kong, the riots share one more characteristic: They shouldn’t have happened. In the aftermath, government officials were quick to point out the security failures that exacerbated the severity of the incidents, but the real problem was years in the making.

Around a decade ago, the

idea of one of the most iconic American buildings being stormed in this manner would have seemed absurd. But fast-forward to the present day and such acts of violence are no longer so remote.

The reality is that America has become an increasingly divided nation. The political divide has played an especially prominent role in polarizing the public, with Democrats and Republicans expressing strong disagreement over an array of issues.

On the surface level, the riots occurred because a group of extreme Trump supporters were unhappy with the election results. But upon further inspection, the storming of the U.S. Capitol reflected divisions buried deep down in American society.

Similarly, the roots of the Hong Kong protests can be traced back way before the controversial extradition bill, which was seen as a threat to Hong Kong’s legal system, was proposed in 2019. It was the result of years of accumulated frustration against both the local and mainland Chinese governments. Hong Kong has long enjoyed a high degree of autonomy from China because of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle.

However, a societal division has emerged over whether or not these special privileges are on the decline.

Both events reflected deeper societal issues. They highlighted the importance of ac-

Top: tear gas being used outside the U.S. Capitol. Photo by Tyler Merbler (via Wikimedia Commons).

Bottom: protestors gathered in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong in August 2019. Photo by Studio Incendo (via Wikimedia Commons).

tively working towards finding a remedy to the situation, and gave us a glimpse of the consequences if we don’t. In both

the U.S. and Hong Kong, the path forward remains unclear.

The necessary first step, however, is clear: we must learn

to understand and accept our different stances. Only then, can we truly progress as a society.

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Swimming: an Individual Team Sport

By Jessi Shin ’24 With 47 members this year, NMH’s varsity swim team is one of the school’s largest athletic teams — and for good reason: the swimmers love it.

The team has four captains, Katelyn Fecteau ’21, Taylor Hough ’21, Tony Huang ’22, and Alex Litovchenko ’21, and coaches Anne Atkins, Kirsten LaMotte, and Tom Bloom.

Although they all have varying years of experience, the captains and coaches are many years into their swimming careers.

It’s almost impossible to describe the team in one word, but swimmers are always up for a challenge. Katelyn said her word would be “ambitious,” adding that “a lot of us are working past injuries right now, but everyone has been pushing through the workouts and keeping up [the good work].”

Tony chose the word “team” because “the swim team is always close-knit. We’re cheering for one another because we want to [support] our friends.” Similarly, Coach Tom described the team as “social,” noting that the social piece of swimming is what makes practices fun.

“The one thing that hasn’t really changed [is how] the kids [are] really close to one another.”

Taylor summed up the team as “like a dysfunctional family that somehow always works.”

Alex remarked, “The team was able to sustain this healthy dynamic over all the years…

One thing that didn’t change is how welcoming and how

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Captains Katelyn Fecteau ’21 (top left), Taylor Hough ’21 (top right), Alex Litovchenko ’21 (bottom right), and Anthony Huang ’22 (bottom left) lead the varsity swimming team this season. Photos by Sofia Lozano ’22.

closely bonded the team is.”

Coach Anne recalls her earlier years with the team and notes how “the kids now are similar in terms of their really good attitude and sportsmanship.”

So what makes students stay with the swim team? For Tom, it’s the team’s supportiveness. Reminiscing about his memories coaching the team, he commented that when records were broken, “kids were crying. And not just the kids who broke the record, but their teammates, [who] were so happy for them.

They care about one another’s

successes as much as they care about their own.”

Taylor loves the team atmosphere. She described the daily practices, and how different this was from her previous non-NMH swimming experiences. “We played music, we talked, we had fun.

Tom [is] a goofball. We can all laugh at each other, but when it’s time to be serious, we can be serious.”

Alex explained that the source of their team’s welcoming atmosphere is the coaches. “Swimming is a really hard and, often, boring

sport. I think the coaches ease things up with their distinct personalities.” Katelyn, too, described how the team is “always out to have fun.”

So, what does fun look like in a pandemic? Despite the unfortunate situation, the team has been trying to run a “normal” season. “It’s going better than I was afraid of,” Tom said. Although the competitiveness of the team might be less than before, the coaches are planning virtual meets in order to change that.

All of the captains pointed out how the team is still

bonding in these hard times and the swimmers remain dedicated to the team.

Taylor explained how the team is distinct from others: “We’re athletically driven yet team-oriented. I always found it weird because swimming is such an individual sport, but we somehow can make it fun.” In this team made up of many, Alex described “how individually bright all the swimmers are [and] how the team is luminous.”