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One of the biggest surprises when I first stepped foot on campus was… the Health Center. Anticlimactic, I know. Before Deerfield, I didn’t even know that students could get extensions from teachers on tests and assignments; I was always taught that you should just “suck it up,” no matter how extreme or stressful the circumstances. Even being sick wasn’t an excuse for me to skip classes, because my mom insisted, “If you’re not sick enough to be hospitalized, you should be in class!” It’s safe to say that when reality kicked in, I learned that it’s nearly impossible to get through Deerfield without receiving a few extensions. The academic, extracurricular, and social demands are more than enough to take a mental and physical toll on us students. Therefore, I feel that the Health Center has a “blanket” policy of taking in everyone who might be sick so as not to risk turning away students who actually need care. The nurses are lenient for a good reason — it is better to err on the side of caution. However, we students find ways to exploit the Health Center’s kindness for our own benefit. It’s no secret that Deerfield students sometimes say they’re “sick” in order to avoid a test, in-class essay, or presentation. Some students fall into a habit of dependency on the Health Center, and over time they even feel entitled to this strange “right” to skip classes. My proctor last year told me that nurses at the Health Center would let her skip an entire school day for period cramps. I’m embarrassed to admit that upon hearing this story, I immediately started brainstorming ways to “cheat the system” — no one can check that your period cramps are so bad that you can’t go to classes. The same goes for migraines, stomach aches, vomiting: how can the nurses prove that you aren’t in pain? Clearly, there are many problems with pretending to be sick. First, the Health Center only has so many beds. You may be preventing people who actually need care from receiving proper attention. They didn’t choose to be sick and fall behind on classwork, yet you are gaining an unfair academic advantage by lying. Also, ask yourself: how much would it really help to earn a few extra hours or days of studying? I know at first it feels like waving a magic wand to turn a seemingly impossible day into a bearable one. But I’ve seen my friends become “sick,” only to blow off the extra days they earned by procrastinating until the new day of the test. Did you really gain anything from this informal extension? Or are you back in the same place after having lied to your teacher, nurses, and yourself? If you’re afraid of telling your teacher the truth that you are simply unprepared or stressed, I say — don’t be scared. It’s much more eyebrow-raising and probably disappointing for the teacher if you are “sick” all of a sudden on a test day than if you come clean and explain your circumstances. Most teachers understand that Deerfield can be overwhelming. If you’re constantly finding yourself so pressed for time, anxious, or unconfident that you are using the Health Center as a safe haven, I recommend you reassess your schedule and habits. If the root of the problem is having just too much on your plate — classes, sports, activities — step back and determine if everything you’re doing is really necessary, and more importantly, makes you happy. Or maybe you need to cut down on Netflix or texting for hours. Fixing this problem is not as easy as identifying it, but it’s definitely possible with enough determination. However, I find that our biggest enemy is often our own standards. In economics, the law of diminishing returns states that adding more of a certain factor for production will eventually lead to less output per addition. By staying at the Health Center, you’re hoping to buy more time for better grades. But is it really worth trying to earn maybe one or two more points, going through hours of careful, twisted plotting, misleading your teachers and classmates, wasting mental energy, and falling behind schedule? Before we start pointing fingers and yelling, “I can’t help it, everyone wants us to succeed!” or “The school made us so stressed!” consider if you are pushing yourself to unreasonable and unhealthy levels. I understand that it’s tempting to make a morally ambiguous decision when seemingly so much is at stake. We don’t want to let our parents down. We don’t want to let our classmates and teachers down by getting okay grades. Most of all, we don’t want to let ourselves down by going to a “mediocre” college. But we must remember that we make up the school. Our actions, our thoughts shape what we label “the school.” Deerfield isn’t telling you to strive to write a graduate thesis when the assignment is to write a simple analytical paper. If you know you have a habit of over preparing, try relaxing just once. No, you probably won’t “get a zero” by giving yourself a break and setting realistic goals. Challenging yourself is great; torturing yourself is not. Collectively, we can change the culture of the school. If every one of us maintains a reasonable schedule, develops strong study habits, and aims for excellence with confidence, we will enjoy the most of what Deerfield has to offer.

After-school co-curriculars are a requirement at Deerfield, which include anything from sports to theatre, or community service. However, another option is the co-curricular alternative program, which provides a way for Deerfield students to pursue other activities that are important to them. For example, Jackson Cohlan ’18 works with other Deerfield students to produce original music, working daily in the Hess Center’s recording studio. His latest release includes the voice of Caitlin Sugita ’18. When Cohlan first came to Deerfield, he “considered [himself] an athlete and had never really been artistic.” Cohlan got into making music after he stress-fractured his femur playing soccer during his freshman and sophomore years. Kishor Bharadwaj ’19 is researching language, aiming to facilitate automatic translation. Bharadwaj grew up under a multilingual roof, speaking many different languages on a regular basis. His experiences inspired him to look into the phonetics of different languages, and he is finding that seemingly unrelated languages share many of the same sounds. Bharadwaj summarized, “My goal is to teach a computer to process language in a way that I do.” On weekends, Parker Luber ’18 heads over to nearby Mt. Stratton, Vermont to teach people how to snowboard. He has been snowboarding ever since he was young and completed the programs at Stratton. When he was old enough, he followed in the footsteps of his sister and brother by becoming a snowboarding instructor. This is now his third year with the same co-curricular alternative. Luber stated, “I enjoy snowboarding because it is about relaxing and having fun, … getting me away from everything and out of the Deerfield mindset.” Michael Meng ’18 and Neil Nie ’19 are working together to automate a golf cart. Since it is virtually impossible for Nie and Meng to explicitly code directions for every possible situation, they are using machine learning, which teaches the cart to interpret images and make steering decisions by supervised learning. As the model learns more from its training data, it will be able to perform independently in the real world, making intelligent decisions without supervision. Arayana Carr-Mal ’20 is a violinist who uses music service to hone her skills. Music service is “a very individual co-curricular” where music students with a variety of experience levels spend time practicing, rehearsing for competitions, or simply playing together. Carr-Mal enjoys music because to her, music is a “cathartic way to express [herself].” Anna Mishchenko ’19 is working with Thomas Song ’19, Shreyas Sinha ’19, and Kareena Bhakta ’20 to prepare for public forum debate. Deerfield’s debate club normally focuses on parliamentary extemporaneous debates, a style that doesn’t require prepared research and focuses more on speaking ability. However, in Public Forum, research is strongly emphasized. Mishchenko described this style of debate as “more about having a deeper understanding of the topic than the team you are opposing.” Her goals for this term are to “become better debaters ourselves, and to have a set in stone plan to help the novices.” Deerfield’s athletic alternative program has given its students the opportunity to pursue unique interests outside of the classroom. All signs point to the continued growth and development of this program in the future.

Dear Margo, Rita, and Curtis, I know everyone talks about how fun winter is, and admittedly, it hasn’t been that bad. But, sometimes, I find myself just wanting to remain in the warmth of my dorm, as it is so gloomy and chilly outside. How can I get through these winter blues? Best, warmgirl22 ——————————- Dear warmgirl22, As the first order of business, let me welcome you to January in Western Massachusetts! Winter here at the Academy is often equated to life in Antarctica — cold, dark, and even colder. I’m sure you’ve heard it said a million times before, but winters here can be hard. It’s not a secret. Sometimes, staying in your dorm room on a chilly day is the right move to make. But I come to you, my friend, with great news! You will survive it! No matter what anyone says, the snow will eventually melt, your toes will eventually defrost, and soon we will all be complaining that we are too hot. My biggest winter term survival tip is to heed the words of Henry Ward Beecher: “The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.” Now THAT is something to snap to, people! Consider this our collective mantra of winter 2018. This January is all about appreciating the little and perhaps common things that will keep us all going. Here is my own personal list of things that make me happy in the winter: The way my shoes don’t fit because I have to layer on so many pairs of socks just to walk outside Watching funny movies under four blankets Testing how far I can finesse dress code before I get called out Bringing joy and laughter to my peers when I inevitably slip on the dining hall stairs and face plant into the snow The delicious taste of an Emergen-C spritzer that helps me beat a cold Watching Christmas movies after it is still socially acceptable and seeing how irrationally angry it makes people Make your own list of things that make you happy in the winter, and always remember to see things positively. Stay warm out there kids! Keep on keepin’ on, Margo, Rita, and Curtis 🙂 P.S. Remember this: there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. That means that if you vow to put fashion concerns aside and dress for warmth, you will be warm. What I recommend: 2 pairs of socks — one normal pair under one fuzzy pair — leggings or long johns under your pants, minimum of 4 layers on top (shirt, sweater, sweatshirt, and jacket), and anything that will make it so that only your eyes are visible.

I am Tibetan-American. It is an incredibly large part of my identity. My grandparents were forced to flee the military occupation of their hometown during the Communist Chinese invasion of 1949. They fled to refugee camps in India, where my parents were born. My parents moved to Queens, where I was born. I am also Deerfield’s first Tibetan student in its 221-year history. This past fall, Deerfield Academy’s Board of Trustees refused to fly the flag of my country in the dining hall. This journey to put up the Tibetan flag in the dining hall, which has spanned all four years of my Deerfield experience, began amongst the very first breaths of my freshman year. As my family and I sat around a sit-down table during a pre-Becket brunch in the grandiose, Harry Potter-esque dining hall with its high, vaulted ceilings, festooned with lavish chandeliers and ancient oak tables, my dad and I took particular notice of the array of flags suspended from the ceiling between two great columns. My eyes darted from Saudi Arabia to Singapore. Noticing my searching eyes, a teacher told me that the flags represented the different nationalities of Deerfield’s students, past and present. But there was no Tibet. My mind flooded with questions: I was a student, wasn’t I? Just like them? Are they saying my identity is invalid? How could I ever fit in here? My dad and I locked eyes. In mine, he saw a mission. In his, I saw sagacious fear. He asked me to tread lightly, telling me to develop my education before I began to try to apply it. My new Head of School greeted us with the words of Invocation, welcoming us to this community. But I already felt isolated, and I had a mission. I began my mission in earnest during my junior year. I spent free periods and otherwise languid Sunday afternoons in my advisor’s office discussing and strategizing. I outlined my goal: to walk into the first sit-down meal of my senior year with the Tibetan flag waving above me. We devised a strategy: to raise awareness and to craft a formal statement. I began by giving a Flag Presentation to the community where I talked about the literal meaning of the Tibetan flag and its vast historical and political significance. My Flag Presentation got people talking, but this was just the beginning. Next, I moved on to research. From my aggregate experience between research papers for US History (<3 heise), literary analyses for English, and research reports for AP Seminar, I learned to feel at home between the book stacks of the library. But instead of Nat Turner’s Rebellion or the underlying economic impact of foreign food aid in Syria, I maneuvered through encyclopedias and databases to conduct research on the topic that matters most to me. Finally, I began searching for relevant precedent. I saw that a Tibetan student at a peer boarding school had dealt with a similar issue. Through a local newspaper, I found that a Tibetan student at UMass Amherst petitioned to carry the flag at graduation. I acquired the current list of flags hanging in the dining hall — a list that included Macau, Taiwan, and the Sioux Nation. Armed with elucidating research and guiding precedent, I crafted a formal statement for the administration. Late in the fall, I sat with a group of adults and presented my case orally. I sat on one side of the North Dining Room, gripping my outline and stat sheet like sword and shield to defend against the piercing gaze of the five adults lining the opposite side of the table. But as I began to speak, I realized the intimidating eyes of Dr. Curtis, Ms. Creagh, Ms. Young, Ms. Ellis, only held soft, genuine interest. I relaxed my grip on my 8.5” x 11” buckler and let it flutter down to the table. As a result of that meeting, my issue was raised to the Head of the Board of Trustees during the Fall Trustee Weekend, beside issues of combating racism and modifying class dress. But, ultimately, my request to fly the Tibetan flag in the dining hall was rejected. I will eat the remainder of my meals at the Academy like I have eaten them for the past four years. I’ll enjoy my remaining shepherd’s pies and apple crisp without the flag of my country above me. Officially, the school decided to only fly the flags of countries that the United States of America has “bilateral relationships” with. This allows the school to continue flying the flags of countries such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, despite the fact that neither the United Nations nor the US Department of State recognizes them as sovereign nations, while denying my request to fly the Tibetan flag. This also means that some flags, like the Sioux Nation, will be coming down. This stance is perhaps to reinforce Deerfield’s position as an American boarding school with an international outlook, rather than a school like Hotchkiss, which, from what I understand, considers itself an international school based in the US. Perhaps as a result of that alignment, Hotchkiss flies the Tibetan flag, alongside the Quebecois flag and others, on the other end of their dining hall, in what they call the “Cultural Flag” section. But despite the ostensible failure of my project, I couldn’t be prouder of the result of this effort. While it undoubtedly hurts to feel like my identity as being Tibetan is somehow lesser than my best friends’ identities of being American or Indonesian or Nigerian, the problem of the Tibetan flag has since evolved into a broader discussion of how the school recognizes identity. What if we had both an Israeli and a Palestinian student? Whose flag would we fly? What if someone wanted the Confederate Flag? How do we choose how to validate identity? Although I will never see the flag of my country flying among those of my friends’, I believe that this project has left an indelible mark on my school’s conversation about identity and forced them to thoughtfully take a stance on salient international issues that concern our global student population. Oh, and Facebook Message me or something if you want to challenge anything about how I called Tibet a country. New Dorm 201, swing through.

According to Academic Dean Ivory Hills, there have been 13 Academic Honor Committee meetings this school year, yielding 10 findings. By January of the 2016-2017 school year, only one AHC meeting had occurred; by the end of the year, there were only four findings despite 15 total meetings. The 2015-2016 school year also had only four findings. The AHC process enforces Deerfield’s Academic Integrity policy. As outlined in the Student Handbook, academic integrity is a “bond of trust between teacher and student.” Through the AHC, students may be investigated for plagiarism, defined in the student handbook as “ideas or work without proper acknowledgment … usually occur[ing] in two forms: copying and receiving outside writing help.” If a teacher believes a student has plagiarized, the Employee Handbook obligates him or her to discuss the violation with the appropriate department chair. The case is brought to the Academic Dean if there is a mutual concern. If there is a consensus that a major school rule may have been violated, Dr. Hills calls for an AHC meeting, even if the student’s violation wasn’t intentional. If the offense doesn’t fit the criteria for an AHC — such as a probation violation, or a small offense — other disciplinary options may include action solely from the Academic Dean, a letter from the Academic Dean’s Office, or a discussion with the student’s teacher. There are four possible outcomes from an AHC meeting: no finding, letter of warning, letter of reprimand, or a three-day suspension and probation.A letter of reprimand is a formal letter from the Academic Dean’s office that is not reported to colleges. A disciplinary warning means that a student was found in violation of a major school rule, but with significant mitigating circumstances. The highest level of consequence, a three-day suspension and academic probation, must be reported to colleges. A no-finding result means that the student did not break a major school rule; there are no consequences. Consequences often depend upon specific mitigating factors in the case, such as if a student was new to Deerfield and had different academic expectations at previous schools. Dr. Hills considers both his and the committee members’ job to be twofold: to “help students learn from academic errors and scholarship mistakes,” and to “protect and maintain the integrity of a Deerfield education and a Deerfield diploma.” History Teacher Mary Ellen Friends, a long-standing member of the AHC, commented, “The best outcomes that I have experienced are ones … in which the student feels supported … [and] buys into the idea that we want to be helpful.” Both teachers emphasized that the AHC process is not a punishment. Rather, Dr. Hills explained that it should be taken as a learning opportunity: “The AHC’s purpose is to help students learn from their mistakes.” Since the number of AHCs with findings has increased, Dr. Hills has been searching for patterns. He hypothesized that several of this year’s cases may have stemmed from “different practices at [students’] former schools” or more willingness of teachers to bring cases to the attention of the Academic Dean since the introduction of the letter of reprimand five years ago. David Miller, Director of the Center for Service and Global Citizenship, said that “integrity is the most important thing [that] we teach in this school.” Ms. Friends added, “We know that there are a lot of you out there that are trying really hard, and we want to remind you that we care.”

President Donald Trump signed a long-awaited piece of legislation on December 22, 2017: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The bill introduces massive tax cuts for businesses and all Americans in the hopes of expanding and improving the economy. Such significant legislation raises the question: how will Deerfield be impacted? Deerfield Academy’s Chief Financial Officer Keith Finan said that, when considering the Act’s consequences, “we actually dodged a lot of bullets.” To fund lost tax revenue, legislators made an unprecedented decision to introduce a 1.4% excise tax on the endowment of private institutions with over 500 students and assets valued at least $500,000 per student. Mr. Finan explained how the actual law does not include private high schools like Deerfield, exempting us from the tax. For now, the Academy is in a comfortable financial position, but Mr. Finan warned that “next year there will be revisions,” meaning Deerfield could experience changes that would negatively impact the Academy. For example, Mr. Finan specifically noted that he “would be shocked if they didn’t expand the [endowment excise tax] to private schools,” leading Deerfield to pay millions of dollars in taxes rather than investing in the Academy. However, one possible benefit of the bill is the revision to how parents can use their 529 Savings Plan, a savings account where tax-free earning can be reserved to eventually pay for college tuition. Now, the bill allows money from the account to also be used to pay for private high schools, like Deerfield. U.S. government legislation, even once passed, typically sees revisions in years after. If these revisions do end up taxing Deerfield’s endowment, providing employee benefits would become more expensive. Thus, the bill could put the Academy in a position where it would have to spend more. These consequences could call for drastic changes in how Deerfield pays teachers and funds various programs such as athletics, school facilities, and academic clubs. However, it is still too early to determine exactly how the bill will impact the Academy; in years to come, we could remain completely unscathed or see massive changes to the school’s budget.

Over 100 and counting. That’s the current number of women who have come forward to accuse film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and rape. Sadly, as we all know, this isn’t the first famous man to be accused of sexual harassment or sexual assault. Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly recently confronted sexual harassment and assault charges. Then there’s Andy Signore, John Besh, Chris Savino, Robert Scoble, and Roy Price, just to name a few. And let’s not forget the tape where Donald Trump admits to grabbing women “by the pussy.” So we can ask ourselves: Is this simply an epidemic among powerful men in our country, or is this a systemic and pervasive problem in our culture where male privilege perpetuates entitlement to whatever, whomever, whenever? But let’s back up a little: to most women, it isn’t a surprise that so many victims have come forward or that so many victims waited to come forward for decades because they feared reprisal. It takes courage to speak up knowing that you’ll be accused of spreading financially motivated lies. A article, addressing actor Casey Affleck’s Oscar win and the sexual harassment allegations against him, speaks to this very issue. The article reads, “Being white and male can be a powerful shield against failure, even in the face of evidence that perhaps a given honor is not deserved. And as actress Constance Wu pointed out in January after calling Affleck out, it is often those who speak out about alleged abusers that face a fear of repercussions as a result.” These harassment and assault stories, however, are not isolated incidents and they don’t concern just a few famous men. As Wu points out, we live in a culture of “not believing” women, especially when they tell their stories about rape, assault, harassment, discrimination, or sexism. And it doesn’t just happen to women: it starts when a little girl is born — sugar and spice and everything nice. In our culture, “not believing” begins right away. Consider these examples: a four-year-old girl (my sister) in preschool is terrified to go to school. Why? Because a preschool-aged boy is continuously poking her with thumbtacks. When teachers are asked to address the incident, it is dismissed, considered “harmless” because the boy was motivated by the fact that he “liked” the little girl. It starts in small moments, like in elementary school, where my sisters’ voices weren’t heard, their needs not valued, when they went to the school administration asking for a change in playground space, as the boys had “claimed” every inch of the available blacktop. It starts when a boy told my sister that he was going to kill her and that she was ugly and fat before she was even old enough to explain the situation to the adults around her. Once again, teachers explained to my parents that this boy “liked” my sister. This culture continues in high school, where a girl writes an opinion piece about the inauguration, which I did last year for the . While I believe in the importance of engaging in discussion with individuals who hold opposing opinions, the reactions to my article were not about creating a  article were not about creating a meaningful dialogue. Instead, I was criticized for speaking out. The boys who approached me accused me of being too “charged.” Two emails in particular, sent to me by uperclassmen boys after my article was published, suggested that I was being disloyal to Deerfield. The goal was to intimidate me — after all, a sophomore girl couldn’t possibly have valid experiences and ideas of her own, so she needed to be taught a lesson. One email claimed that someone who held the views I held was “un-American” — simply because I, a girl, exercised a First Amendment right and suggested the possibility that misogyny could have played some role in the outcome of the election. And, as is typical in situations where girls and women speak out, I was told by one of the emailers to “get over” it. More alarming was the response by the senior boy who warned me that “the world isn’t a ‘safe space,’” nor is it “always a pleasant place.” (A lesson that all female-identified individuals in this country already know all too well, thank you very much!) However, I was lucky. There were adults around me at Deerfield that stepped in to help me navigate the situation. They didn’t sweep it under the rug or suggest that I had asked for trouble by writing a passionate opinion piece. And thank god they didn’t suggest that maybe the boys just “liked” me! But I think about women in the workplace who do not have a single ally. These women face levels of sexual harassment and assault that I can’t even begin to imagine. So with all the news circulating about sexual harassment and assault, I am forced to wonder what it must feel like to be a boy with privilege. Boys very rarely have to worry about their bodies being violated. They can walk through the world without fear of being catcalled or touched inappropriately. Most boys don’t know what it’s like to feel a man slip his hand onto your thigh on a subway in New York City. Most boys don’t know what it’s like to cross the street at night quickly because a man is walking too close for comfort. Boys are rarely told “the world isn’t a ‘safe space.’” More importantly, when they do speak out, they are often believed. As more and more women come forward, we must ask ourselves how we can change our culture, our society. What can we do? This issue is not simply a “women’s issue.” Since the 1700s, our country has been carefully designed to keep women down and suppress their voices (just read the letter John Adams sent to Abigail Adams while formulating America’s government: “We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems.”) While it’s a true act of bravery for women to share personal experiences of harassment or assault or sexism, we need to do more. This can’t be said enough: we all know women coming forward with stories, and that means we also know the many men who are responsible for them. It is now time for accountability. It is now time for the presumption of “truth” and “believability” to be afforded to everyone.

Recently, Director of Research, Innovation & Outreach Mr. Peter Nilsson was recognized with a Wolfram Innovator Award for a course he pioneered last spring, dubbed “Distant Reading.” In the course, students performed computational analyses of texts in order to deepen skills in question formulation, problem decomposition, and argumentation. Mr. Nilsson first conceived the idea for the course at a conference over spring break when he saw a presentation about Wolfram Language. Wolfram Language is a high-level programming language that powers tools like Wolfram Mathematica, a prominent computational software used in college math and physics classes, and Wolfram Alpha, a computational knowledge engine that underlies Apple’s intelligent voice assistant, Siri. “It’s pretty accessible to students who have never done programming before,” Mr. Nilsson explained. At the conference, Mr. Nilsson realized that analytical tools like Wolfram Language have reached the point where students can utilize them to deconstruct and analyze texts without needing much programming experience. He brought the idea back to Deerfield and discussed it with fellow faculty. Ultimately, he taught one section of the course with Computer Science Teaching Fellow Khizar Hussain, while English Teaching Fellow Anna Gonzales and Computer Science Teacher Ben Bakker taught another section. “The [Wolfram Innovator] award should be shared with Mr. Bakker, Ms. Gonzales, and Mr. Hussein,” Mr. Nilsson stated. “I might have been the person that brought the idea to campus, but all four of us worked together … It was a lot of collaborative work.” The class’ ideas are based off of digital humanities, an innovative new field that has emerged in the last 15-20 years. Digital humanities revolves around the application of computing technologies to the disciplines of the humanities. “It had previously been high level work because it took a pretty strong background in computer science to run the kinds of analyses on texts. But logically, it’s not particularly complicated. It’s just thinking about words through counting, through networks, through mapping,” Mr. Nilsson specified. In class, students spend most of their time working on different projects with the guidance of their teachers. For the first project, students analyzed the text of Shakespeare’s and compared it to their own writing throughout high school. Among the factors considered were sentence length, complexity of vocabulary, paragraph length, and sentence structure. The creativity continued as the term progressed, as students explored topics such as social networks in the Bible or rhyming in rap lyrics. “It was interesting to design this class where we did look at works of literature, but in terms of a project-based class like computer science,” Mr. Nilsson described. “But occasionally we did come back together to present and discuss our works in a discussion-style format.” Each section of the class was taught by one computer science teacher and one English teacher. “They are really complementary skills for us as teachers. The English teachers will have more experience interrogating texts. The computer science teachers will have more experience introducing students to a foreign language and shepherding them through a project in that format,” Mr. Nilsson stated. Mr. Nilsson is planning to teach the course again this spring. “We learned a lot last year,” Nilsson noted. “We have already made revisions and will be revising further to make it an even better experience for students.”

“I’m a feminist. I’ve been a female for a long time now. It’d be stupid not to be on my own side.” ­­ ­— Maya Angelou We all struggle with the polarizing nature of the word “feminism.” The long-standing pop culture myth of the man-hating, bra-burning, masculine, disillusioned harridan needs to be retired. We, the perceptive, assume that equality has already been achieved, regardless of what the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says. We assume that the modern woman can be or do anything. Yet, we too easily forget that she cannot be a Pope, a Catholic priest, or a Navy Seal…We assume that the civilized world has long since surmounted the issue of equal pay and gender bias in the workplace. Yet, we ignore the pay gap and the 18 nations where women can’t get jobs without their husband’s consent. Feminism is the radical notion that women are people, that men and women are equal, and that they should have the same opportunities. Feminism is about empowerment. And in much of the world, women need to be empowered to fulfill their potential. Ultimately, the world needs catalysts for change. All humans have equal brain power and intellectual potential to create that change. Think about it: the brain is an organ. It does not have a sex. It is pure potential. Why should the worth of men’s and women’s brains be valued differently just because of the body in which they are housed? All have equal power to change the world. And so, feminism is also about equality. Why should women earn 20 percent less than their male counterparts? Why should women not be able to vote or drive? Why should women’s bodies be controlled by men (or governments)? Why should women and girls be forced to marry against their will (as 28 girls per minute are worldwide)? Why should girls not have access to education as their male counterparts do (as 62 million girls do not worldwide?) Why should a girl be shot in the head merely for trying to get an education, as Malala was? Why should women only hold 4.8 percent of the CEO positions in S&P 500 companies when they constitute 46.1% percent of the workforce? And so it follows, if feminism is about equality of the sexes, for those of you who do not consider yourselves feminists, I would like to ask you to try and justify your position to your sisters and mothers (and one day to your own daughters). Yes, we have made great strides in recent years. The trend is encouraging. The progress that has been made would be inconceivable to women born 100 years ago. It is a dream come true. But there are still inequalities and there is still work to be done. Let’s all band together. We need to do better to understand one another. Talk to a feminist. Ask them why they identify as one, and what feminism means to them. We cannot let feminism be hijacked by the misandrists. I’m a feminist. I have been for a long time now. No, I don’t hate men. No, I don’t hate shaving. No, I don’t reject male chivalry; by all means, hold the door open for me! No, I don’t think women are superior to men. No, I am not angry. No, I do not wish to topple the patriarchy. And no, I do not burn my bras. You see, I am a feminine, man-loving, bra-wearing, enlightened, FEMINIST. Jump on board!

“They say it grows so cold up here in winter that a man’s laughter freezes in his throat and chokes him to death.” — George R.R. Martin. Perhaps Deerfield weather is not as dreary as it is in , but laughter and happiness seems to be less present during the winter term. Admittedly, it is not easy being cooped up inside all day waiting for the weather to warm up enough to step outside without shivering. But, it isn’t all bad. In fact, some of the best things come out of the winter. So without further ado, my declassified guide to doing winter right. First of all, try to get out of your room more. Nothing is worse than spending the winter alone within the same four walls. There’s actually quite a bit to do. “I think that some of my best memories from last year were from winter term,” says Caio Paiva-Oliveira ’20. “I know the barn is gone now, but going to basketball and hockey games were so much fun last year.” From cheering on the basketball team to getting pizza at half-time to rushing the court when the point guard hits a buzzer beater, if you want winter memories, the gym is great place to start. But that was not all Oliveira had to say about the winter. “Go to all the weekend activities, especially semi,” he said, adding, “There’s always a movie or a dance or a tournament to go to, and semi is the best dance all year.” “Definitely ask someone to Semi,” Oliveira continued. “Don’t be shy; they will probably say yes.” Ask a friend. Ask someone special. Ask someone you wish was someone special. It doesn’t matter. But there’s more to winter than meets the eye. After all, there is snow everywhere! If you’re not used to the cold weather, it can really suck trying to get through the winter. David Chen ’20, a returning sophomore from Perth, Australia, had been stunned by the cold last year and is now an expert at staying warm. “Move your bed right next to a heater if you have one,” Chen said. “And unless your heater is right next to the window, keep your bed as far away from the window as possible. Also, don’t bundle up too early. Wear shorts for as long as possible so you can get used to the cold.” Remembering these little things about the winter is the key to not freezing this year. However, the cold weather can be enjoyable. Adrian Yao ’20 loves the snow: “Go play in the snow. Get in a snowball fight, go sledding. It’s so much fun.” The snow certainly is one of the perks of the winter. Who doesn’t love the look of snow falling on a Sunday morning? Last but not least, we can’t forget that winter term means winter dress code, which means rocking a new look. Guys can exchange a blazer for a sweater or a shirt and a tie for a turtle neck. All of us can also look forward to dress down Fridays (hopefully)! It may be true that nothing burns like the cold, but that won’t stop us from looking forward to the great term ahead of us. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. So don’t let anyone tell you the winter is all misery and cold. If you put in a little effort, winter can be great.

On October 25th, Lilia Brooker ’19, Steven Li ’19, and Anna Mishchenko ’19 traveled to Balmoral Hall and Gray Academy in Winnipeg, Canada to represent Deerfield Academy at the International Independent Schools’ Public Speaking Competition. The speakers won several awards, scoring as the best American school as a team. In addition, Brooker won the Top U.S. Speaker and Top Persuasive Speaker awards, qualifying her for the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships, which will take place this coming April in Cape Town, South Africa. Philosophy Teacher and Debate Coach Michael O’Donnell accompanied the speakers to the tournament in Canada. “The experience was fun but intense,” Mr. O’Donnell said. “The students were great, very respectful, and represented Deerfield well. There were very strong teams from other schools too, so I was very pleased with this year’s results.” Mishchenko commented on the pressure of representing Deerfield in a high-stakes environment: “It was very daunting to be surrounded by people from all around the world who came to Canada just for public speaking.” In addition, Mr. O’Donnell mentioned that preparation for the tournament begins in May with tryouts that are open to the whole school, and once the team is chosen, they practice right up until the competition. Clarifying, Mr. O’Donnell stated, “I helped the students brainstorm for persuasive speech topics, gave feedback on prepared speech drafts, and instructed them to read news through Canadian sources, since there sometimes is a Canadian bias … One thing we’ve learned is that serious preparation pays off.” Additionally, the speakers highlighted several lessons that defined the experience. For example, Li further reflected, “The tournament taught me a lot about thinking before I talk. Even though it may not appear that the best speakers do not have to think before speaking, they do — they just think really fast.” Mishchenko referenced speaking styles in particular specifying, “I learned several new lessons … such as the strategy of starting an impromptu with an anecdote and three examples.” Li agreed and elaborated, “Walking into a room where you have six or seven competitors who can all speak eloquently absolutely made me more humble.” Looking to the future, Mishchenko expressed her intentions to continue debate throughout the year, stating, “I’m doing a debate cocurricular exemption during winter term. I will be doing a lot of research and debate … while learning how to teach other kids on the debate team and inspire them.” Meanwhile, Brooker is currently researching to find a topic for a persuasive speech, focusing her efforts on preparing for the upcoming World Individual and Public Speaking Championships in South Africa. Mr. O’Donnell expressed optimism for the future endeavors of students interested or involved in debate at Deerfield, saying, “This year, all juniors went to Canada, which means they can either go again, or help students next year. We now have a valuable resources where there are three public speakers on campus who know how the competition works.” In spite of the high level of commitment that was necessary, the team as a whole agreed participating in the competition was worthwhile and impactful. Brooker elaborated, “The talent around us was incredible. To meet kids from all over the world who have the same passion as you was inspiring.”

Director of Athletics Bob Howe prides himself on being multidimensional. In addition to earning captaincy for three sports for his final two years of college, Mr. Howe’s ability as a penman is on full display during every Athletic Awards meeting, where students can count on his poems that recap highlights from the past season. As it turns out, Mr. Howe’s ability as a poet translates well to more conventional writing. Mr. Howe’s newest frontier is “Bob’s Blog,” a monthly opinion on a number of athletics-related topics with a focus on stirring up alumni interest. His first entry this year was an update on Deerfield athletics as a whole during Fall Family Weekend. Writing is not a new interest to Deerfield’s athletic director: “I’m not particularly quick on my feet; I’m better with a pen,” he said. Writing may even be a part of his future, as he explained, “I enjoy writing. Some day when I retire, I might do some more writing. I’d love to write a book on my experiences as an athletic director for twenty-plus years at these schools. I have a lot of interesting stories.” Mr. Howe has ambitions of expanding his new blog to more than just updates: “I hope the blog will have a message from me and a different part of life on campus, whether it’s the Choate Day experience through our student’s eyes, to specialization [of high level athletes] and how I feel about it, and how it affects how we work in admissions, to giving a temperature to what’s going on here for people who might not go to our website regularly.” The Athletic Department is currently promoting an initiative to involve alumni more with athletics and to steadily improve the reputation of all of our teams in a sustainable way. “We’re trying to reach more alumni,” Mr. Howe explained. “Part of the initiative here is bringing people back to campus, back to… wanting to be a part of the growth of our athletic program.” According to his blog, in terms of the department’s goal of increasing alumni engagement, Mr. Howe said Big Green has been showing up more in contrast to last year: “This year we have scheduled many more games to be livestreamed, and already we see a much higher number of people signing on to the games from a year ago.” Additionally, the Athletic Department’s on-field plan for team improvement is coming to fruition well this fall, as a number of teams head into the New England championships in better position than last season, headlined by the field hockey, cross country, and football teams. More than anything, Mr. Howe wants to assure alumni that action is in place and is being carried out by the administration. “There is an athletic initiative,” Mr. Howe said, “The blog is really to get the message out that we’re working hard to make our programs better, and we’re doing it the right way.” You can find Mr. Howe’s updates under “Bob’s Blog” on the Athletics page of Deerfield’s website.