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Alumni
Review #3, Class of 2002 |
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| College
Enrolled |
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Brown University |
| Home
Town, State (Country) |
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Brattleboro,VT |
| Years
Attended Boarding School |
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4 |
| Activities
During Boarding School |
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Concert Choir
Student Newspaper (editor of the Arts and Features section)
HomoBiHetero (GSA)
Student congress
Buddhist meditation group |
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| 1.) What do you think makes your school unique relative
to other boarding schools?
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| Northfield Mount Hermon was formed by the merging of two schools: Northfield (the former girls' school) and Mount Hermon (the former boys' school). Today students live and attend classes on both campuses. According to stereotype (which, for the most part, holds true) most of the more athletically inclined live on Mt. Hermon and the more artistic live on Northfield. I found that segregation between the two kinds of people, however, did not occur, since everyone takes classes with everyone else. Now that I have graduation, however, I realize that I didn't meet all these people that were on the campus on which I did not live. One serious drawback to having activities on both campuses is the fact that one has to take intercampus busses ALL THE TIME. This wasted up to an hour and a half of my day (it's a 15 minute bus ride), and missing the bus was often met with serious circumstances, if there was not another one for a long time and one thus missed at least a large section of a class.
The school requires 4.5 hours of work on campus from each student each week. Some of these jobs (as those in the cafeteria) can be very tedious. However, the workjob program can be wonderful. I loved how it equalled out some of the differences between wealthy and not wealthy students who had to work together at the same job. I was also fortunate to get a job at the school archives for my last two years, which was very interesting (I filed old applications and thus learned a lot about the history of the school and of the area). Some of the relationships between staff and students also really flourish because of workjob, and I think if it is approached with a good attitude, the 4.5 weekly hours can be very fulfilling. |
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| 2.) What was the best thing that happened to you in boarding school? |
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| My previous comments on the enthusiasm of teachers sums up one of my favourite aspects of NMH. I was pushed to work my hardest yet supported immensely along the way.
I really appreciate the different kinds of people I met at school that I never would have at home, and I think that I am a much friendlier and tolerant person for it.
The faculty members at NMH were really, really great, and encouraged me to enjoy school and feel at ease talking freely with teachers and staff, within and without of the classroom.
I have been very well prepared for a college environment and workload. |
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| 3.) What would you have done differently during your boarding school experience? |
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| I was actually really really happy with my high school experience, and don't think I would have changed much. There were definitely times when I felt overworked and miserable, but I could just as easily have taken easier classes, did less work, and gotten into more trouble, and I'm glad I focused academically instead. |
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| 4.) What would you never want to change about your school? |
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| Faculty, campus, diversity of the student body, range of courses, workjob, sense of community. |
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| 5.) What things could be improved about your school? |
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| Rules, especially having to do with residential life, cafeteria hours, facilities for student groups, activities and transportation available on weekends. There were TOO many campus/all-school meetings. Intercampus bussing is horrible, and I wish the school would make more of an effort to schedule kids so they don't have to go back and forth constantly during the day. |
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| 6.) Do you have any final words of wisdom for visiting or incoming students
to your school? |
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| Gould dormitory is excellent; since one half is male and the other is female, there's a lot more interaction between genders, and the large dining hall and lounge in the center of the dorm are very nice and convenient.
The libraries, especially the Northfield one, are really beautiful. The views are nice, the selection of books is good, and there are a lot of great study spaces. |
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| 1.)
What did you like best about your school’s academics? |
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| NMH's academic program stretched me to the extent of my ability, and for that I am truly grateful. I learned new ways to consider and question the world. I found that by far the majority of the teachers were receptive, sensitive to individual needs, and amazingly encouraging.
As an example for the encouragement I received by my teachers (especially language and English teachers), one day in my senior year English class, I asked a question about a story by James Joyce that we were reading. The teacher took the question very seriously, and later asked me if I would be interested in writing about it for submission to the James Joyce Quarterly, the leading academic journal on Joyce's work. Throughout the rest of the year (when I was no longer in the English class), the teacher worked with me on the essay. We also got other English teachers in the school to edit the essay, and this year (now that I no longer even attend the highschool), we met again for a final editing process. The article has been accepted and will be published. The amount of interest in my work and attention that has been given to me by members of the NMH faculty has been far more than I ever expected, and thus my own performance has gone beyond what I imagined. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about the academics in your school? |
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| The academic work is sometimes very grueling. Certain teachers and classes place so much work on students that there is really little time for social activities or even sleep if one hopes to complete the work.
During some trimesters, especially the one in which I took AP US history, I rarely talked to people or even ate lunch because of my workload. Looking back, though, I AM really glad that I took the class, and I realize that despite my misery at the time, it really WAS worth it for the knowledge I gained. |
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What did you like best about your school’s athletics? |
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| I didn't do any sports, so I don't feel qualified to answer this question. I took mandatory PE, which had the potential to be fun a lot of times. There was a very wide variety of PE classes to choose from. |
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What did you like least about the athletics in your school? |
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| Again, I didn't play sports. Sometimes the mandatory PE classes were extremely boring, and the teachers could take them a little too seriously. I once got graded down in beginning tennis for not being competitive enough. I think the teacher should have paid more attention to my improvement and enjoyment of the sport, not how competitive I was with my own classmates! |
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What did you like best about your school’s art program? |
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| The theatre and vocal music programs were excellent. I was constantly impressed by student theatre productions, and theatre classes were generally good. There were plenty of opportunities for students to get involved in acting, directing, or designing sets/costumes. The head of the theatre program is also a really amazing man, who cares a lot about students and helps them cultivate their acting abilities.
Choral groups were also participated in my many and were in general very good. There were lots of opportunities for students to get very involved if they wanted to.
Dance performances were always amazing, too! |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about your school’s art program? |
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| I heard mixed reviews from students taking visual art classes. Some loved the classes, especially ceramics, but courses on painting and drawing were not praised as widely.
The instrumental music programs were quite limited, and I heard students who did not play only classical music complain that that could have worked on their musical skills much better at another school. |
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| 1.)
What did you like most about the extracurricular activities offered
at your school? |
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| There were a huge number of extracurricular activities, for any type of person. Faculty involvement in them was very good. I can't think of anyone I know that was not at least in one group, since there was really something for anyone's taste. The student body was in general very accepting of other students' interests |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about the extracurricular activities offered
at your school? |
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| There were quite limited resources for many clubs, and thus poor facilities. The student newspaper office was dingey and the computers were so old they barely ran anymore. Most other groups didn't have specific rooms and so would have to scramble to find a place to meet each week. |
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| 1.)
What was the best thing about dorm life in your school? |
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| There was such a diversity in the student body that living in a dorm enabled one to get to know a lot about different people, countries, and cultures. Faculty members living in dorms were usually very friendly, and they let students cook in their kitchens from time to time. Weekly floor parties on Thursday nights made for a nicely bonded community. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about dorm life? |
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| The visiting hour policy for members of the opposite sex was draconian and restrictive. 45 minutes a night with the door all the way open for 18 or 19 year olds is ridiculous.
Curfews were also fairly early, although seniors got extra privileges, and the rules thus made more sense in terms of those with different ages.
During my last year, they enacted this policy where you had to have your lights out by midnight. This was horrible for students who had a lot of activities during the day and a lot of homework, and far too strict, especially for older students. |
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What was the best thing about your dining arrangements? |
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| There were lots of dining halls. Everyone complained about the food, but it wasn't that bad. There was always a lot of cereal (the granola was EXCELLENT) and a good salad bar. Cafeteria staff were often really nice, and many made a large effort to make the food good, even though they had to cook for so many.
Special cultural or event dinners were held at least once a trimester, and these were very much enjoyed. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about your dining arrangements? |
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| The dining halls closed very early (6:45-7). The hot food was not always very appetizing. |
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| 1.) How welcome did you feel by the other students when you first
arrived at the school? |
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| I immediately felt welcome and was surrounded by interesting people who wanted to meet me. The school is large enough to find any kind of group that you would want to hang out with, and most people are very accepting and friendly. The administration makes a big effort to facilitate this kind of atmosphere, and it was wonderful. |
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| 2.)
Describe the level of diversity and integration of students in your
school: |
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| The student body was very diverse. Larger nationalities (Koreans and Turks) tended to form somewhat closed groups, especially by not speaking English when an American kid tried to join them. In general, though, the students were very integrated and it was possible to make friends with people from all different backgrounds. |
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| 3.)
Describe typical fun activities you did on a weekend: |
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| Travelling to local towns to hang out or see movies, spending time outside with friends, hiking, seeing free movies on campus, going to campus dances. |
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| 4.)
What was the town like? |
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| Students went into town to smoke cigarettes and do laundry. There was nothing else to do there. A few convenience stores were nice for buying food, but they were not very necessary.
Students usually travelled 30 minutes or more to larger surrounding towns to see movies or concerts or go shopping, since the town (village, rather) in which the school was situated was quite lacking. |
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| 7:00 AM | Wake up | | 8:00 AM | AP English class | | 9:45 AM | tennis pe class | | 10:30 AM | homework | | 12:00 PM | lunch | | 12:15 AM | AP psychology class | | 2:00 PM | school newspaper (other campus) | | 4:00 PM | back to my campus. homework. | | 5:30 PM | Dinner and time spent hanging out with friends | | 7:30 PM | Workjob at school archives (8 pm=beginning of study hall) | | 9:30 PM | homework | | 10:00 PM | Study hall over, time spent hanging out with dorm mates and faculty | | 11:00 PM | more homework, email etc. | | 12:00 PM | Bed. (lights must be out) | |
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| 10:30 AM | wakeup, shower etc | | 11:15 AM | brunch with friends | | 1:00 PM | homework in library | | 3:30 PM | time with friends, outside, probably | | 5:30 PM | dinner | | 7:30 PM | email etc. | | 8:30 PM | movie on campus | | 10:30 PM | back to dorm (had to be in by 11:30). Hung out with friends, played board games etc. | | 12:30 PM | sleep | |
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