8:00 AM: English -

My favorite authors and great discussions. More...

We're discussing Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Every day we put quotes on the board to get our minds thinking, and to start making connections visually. We're writing excerpts from the book.

My English teacher, Ms. Page, lets the class direct discussion. Everyone comes prepared. Everyone gets involved. As the term goes on, Ms. Page pulls back more and more.

O’Connor's stories have been my favorite reading, along with Shakespeare. She puts so much truth into them. She makes her characters real. It makes readers think really hard about their own lives. You have to find where the truth begins and ends. It makes me think about things in my own life.
 
This is a very advanced class. The discussion is much more sophisticated than it was in prep or lower year. Everyone knows how to work the Harkness table. We all try to get to the heart of the stories we've read.

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8:55 AM: Socializing and homework -

The best of both worlds. More...

I’m in the Phelps Academy Center working on probability problems for my pre-calculus class with my friends Claire and Justin. I often study in the Academy Center if I have a free period between classes.

Usually what happens is you run into someone you know, and then you start working together, as I’m doing here. Everybody has things to do – we give each other help on math and talk at the same time. This happens in the dining hall too – you can eat and study with friends.

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9:20 AM: Day student lounge -

THE place to be. More…

The Day Student Lounge has a large area for socializing. These are a lot of my prep and lower friends. Whenever I walk through the lounge, I can see all of them together.

Generally, I study in the quiet area of the Day Student Lounge. Sometimes I have afternoons where everything’s on the south side of campus. On those days I go to the library because it’s closer to my classes. It’s really good to have two home bases where I can keep my stuff and study.

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9:45 AM: Computer Lab -

Helping me stay connected and productive. More…

My next class is Physics, so here I am in the Science building studying in the computer lab. I’m reading an email my math teacher sent explaining how to do a problem.

I'm also doing some research for a club I'm in, the South Asian Relief Organization. We had a raffle. I was researching places we could send the proceeds as a donation. We decided on the International Medical Corps. I'm going to be cohead of this club next year.

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10:25 AM: The wow of Physics -

Making sense of the real world. More...

Physics is a blast. We do a lot of labs. We have so many resources – you can get hands-on easily.

Today we proved that light is a wave by shooting lasers through glass to see the diffraction. Mr. Hitzrot makes sure that everyone understands. It's really personal – he gets involved if you don't understand. The way he teaches makes the world make sense. I can apply the theories. And it's all real – it's in the world around me. ME! When I'm driving and I hear a car approaching, I say, “the Doppler effect!”

For this lab, we walked into class and Mr. Hitzrot announced we were having a lab quiz. This is a week before finals – you'd think we'd be really maxed out. But we all proved successfully that light is a wave.  Everyone in my Physics class is really comfortable, and we all have fun. It's a really good environment.

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11:20 AM: Calculus -

Making equations make sense. More...

I thought I'd hate pre-calculus because I love geometry. But, Mr. Wolfson makes it awesome. The other day I messed up on a graph. Mr. Wolfson said, "Stop. Erase that nonsense. Now think!"

He’s taught me that if you take your time and break it down, it all makes sense. One of Mr. Wolfson's favorite quotes is: "Let's explore this a little bit…." He'll take the equation, tear it apart and show how everything relates. He’s great at explaining – instead of picking up the calculator, he breaks down the equation until you understand every bit of it.

Mr. Wolfson really cares about the students. If one student doesn't get a problem, he stops the class to help that student. You feel comfortable even if you don’t get it. Mr. Wolfson feels that new understanding is more important than getting the class through at that point.

I'm with my really good friends Shail and Evelyn – they're both day students too. We've had really good times. Shail is great at math – he explains things I don’t understand. Or, we figure it out together.

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2:25 PM: Research -

Studying to my heart's content. More...

Here I’m in the Library computer room with my friend Jenna. I usually work in the library in the afternoon breaks between classes, either in the Computer room or at my carrel.

When I started doing my History 333 class last term, I moved everything to my carrel in the library. My project was the Mormon expulsion from Missouri – we had to pick something before 1960. It was really exciting. Everyday you do research at the library for History 333. It's time-consuming, but not a chore.

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3:50 PM: Frisbee and break dancing -

The ultimate in fun. More...

I've been playing Frisbee ever since I came to Exeter, but this is the first year I've  played competitively. My friend Brad and I were interested in setting up a team, so we went to the Athletics Director, and got Ultimate Frisbee set up. It's really fun to play this as an organized team – you can have a real strategy. Here I'm with my good friend David.

All my friends outside of Exeter wish they could play Frisbee and get credit for it. This year we set up scrimmages against local high schools and went to a couple of tournaments. At our first game against Portsmouth High School we were really nervous, and we beat them 15 to 7.

Some of us do break dancing after Frisbee practice for fun. We just keep upping the ante to see what we can do. Here I'm learning how to do the windmill.

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6:45 PM: Orchestra -

The thrill of performance. More...

We're practicing pieces by Dvorák  and Tchaikovsky for spring concert. I moved to first violin this term. I've played all three years, every term. We have a full orchestra, which my public high school didn't have.

The concert was really good. We played in Phillips Church, my favorite place to play. The acoustics are so beautiful. Matt’s cello solo during this concert is the highlight of my Exeter orchestra career. We have really good soloists. Because everyone here is good, you can play more advanced pieces. We sound real. There's a different dynamic when the audience is there – “this is the night,” you say to yourself.

Mr. Smith is really fun. He brings a lot of intensity to the music without sacrificing any playfulness. He’s a very animated conductor and not intimidating. It's really comfortable for me because I'm right in the center. It's not competitive since you're playing as a team.

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