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“What’s in a name?” This famous question should be the first one posed by any college advisor worth his or her master’s. How much should the reputation of the university we attend matter to us? Are we superficial, vain even, if we crave that elite Ivy League status as much as, or more than, our actual college experience? Has our society indoctrinated us to believe that true happiness can be attained only when the admission rate is below 7%? Deerfield, a self-proclaimed college preparatory school, is faced with the daunting challenge of educating, nurturing and shipping off 630 teenagers to the most coveted institutions of higher education in the world. So how do we students cope with this burden to be nothing less than the best? What happens if we fail to meet these exceptional standards? Can we be happy no matter how U.S. News and World Report ranks our chosen college, or does Deerfield truly believe we must go “HYP or Bust”? Happiness is such an intangible, vague concept, but the notion that a label holds the key to it is seriously misplaced. Happiness lies in the little things found on any college campus–the chance friendships, the inside jokes, the wild memories–and the truly well-prepared Deerfield student may have the foresight to recognize this opportunity anywhere, at any time, and seize it. Andrea Fleming Opinion/Editorial Editor

If I could let the Deerfield community in on a secret, it would be that we all have a false sense of security in the idea that there is no more racism. It’s a hard concept for some to wrap their heads around. The idea that “if you don’t see it, it’s not there” should not be applied to this particular situation. Why? Because then it creates this elephant in the room for those who can see it. Afraid to be accused of hallucinating, they sit in discomfort. It is true–long gone are the “Whites Only” signs and laws, the racism in our parents’ and grandparents’ lives. But that does not negate the presence of discomfort. The truth is that the more hidden racism is, the more of a problem it is. And then we are led to treat the symptoms and not the problem itself. Hiding from racism is like telling someone that their brain tumor is just a headache and giving them aspirin, a band-aid over a bullet hole, so to speak. Racism is an issue so deeply embedded in the foundation of America that although we have been freed from slavery, the country remains in a state of bondage. We are bound now by the desperate desire to be “color-blind”–an unattainable characteristic in our society. So how do we free ourselves? The first step is to recognize the problem. Recently a situation arose in which I overheard another student remark on how two black students would be first- and second-waiting for his advisory group–“the way it should be.” Once the administration caught wind of this, they reacted swiftly–and the problem turned into a double-edged sword. On the one hand, if they were to act “mildly,” they would be seen as tolerating behavior unworthy of Deerfield students. But if they reacted too extremely, it would be as if they had never heard of such comments–as if the incident had been an isolated occurrence. The administration in this situation went with the extreme, which led me to really question– what can be done? What can we do to change such behavior and attitudes? And how should the school be handling these incidents? For me, the need for education is at the core of these issues– education beyond what the whitewashed history textbooks are willing to tell you–education through narratives and through conversations. Ask questions, you think they might be uncomfortable. If the answer might get you closer to how the other person feels, it’s worth asking, worth trying. But do be cautious of how the questions are posed, as not to be offensive, or restrictive, since most do not come with a simple “Yes” or “No.” And those questions will lead to more questions, and answers, and hopefully understanding, if you are an attentive listener. If you don’t understand, if something unsettles you, challenge it! Ask why. Ask about everything until you think you’ve got it. It’s not just one conversation, either. If this is a commitment about which you really care, you will be happy to sacrifice something as trivial as time. And take as much time as you want–as opposed to having everything forced down your throat. Then it’s your responsibility to not just keep that for yourself. Educate others. Take what you learn and bring it into context in your classes, in your everyday life with friends and family outside of Deerfield. All of this is to say that you should not feel as though you have to walk on eggshells and filter yourself around people of color. Those who want to learn will.

The concept of “liking” things on Facebook is something I’ve never really understood. It’s a mysterious signal that can mean a number of things, from “No one else has liked this, so I got your (*cough* mildly unpopular) back” to “Hello, I am a boy who wants to un-aggressively hint at my interest in you.” It’s harmless enough at a glance, but the disturbing power of Facebook is its ability to put a number on how much interest people have or do not have in each other’s lives. It takes the high school obsession of “popularity” and makes it something from which you can never escape, whether you’re tucked into bed in your dorm room or walking— notifications-enabled phone in hand — on Albany Road. From another point of view, Facebook is a blatant meat market. It’s a stage on which all of us strut our most impressive stuff, baring skin in the places of which we are most proud (you’ll see a lot of plunging necklines in my profile pictures!). Facebook is a forum for the exhibitionists that we have become, people starving to be the objects of envy on the high school scene. Our Facebook profiles, in the end, are not so much “profiles” of who we are as projections of what we want our best selves to be. It’s a contest to out-do, out- interest, out-sell: and the product is yourself. Many people’s excuse for Facebook is that it allows them to satisfy their curiosity. But while curiosity might be the original motivation, the emotion you’re left with is often envy. Often, as you scroll down your endless newsfeed, full of beautiful people in beautiful beach/ mountain/ party settings, you’ll find yourself feeling the way my little cousin felt when his traditional Korean instrument (God bless his nerdy little soul) was pitted against a hamster for elementary school show-and-tell. Except in order for the metaphor to work, the hamster would have to talk and defecate gold. Of course, there is the option of buying out of the system— which most Deerfield students are forced to do, especially as their workload builds up and time for mindless scrolling becomes ever scarcer in their four years at DA. But the visible decrease in use of social media from freshman to senior year also corresponds to an increase of self-confidence among the student population. It is no secret that there is a huge developmental change in an individual from his first year at DA to his last, and the greatest part of this change is the confidence to be able to own yourself. To summarize, I’m not going to tell you, little underclassman, that you won’t be happier with a profile picture with 300 likes (someone someday explain to me how that happens?) rather than one with 30. But I will tell you: being able to live your life with more focus on how you see yourself than how you want others to see yourself will come with time. Because I’m a junior, and I sincerely do not “want to die” because you are “so gorgeous,” I would rather not contribute to the ego of a cute couple by giving their picture their 204th like (singles do you hear me preach?), and would prefer to take a nap than look through the hundreds of pictures you took on some beach or another—unless you’re a really attractive boy (in which case you probably didn’t upload a hundred pictures you took on some beach or another).

My sophomore year, Mr. Silipo asked my class to raise our hands if we considered ourselves feminists. I refrained from raising my hand (as did the rest of the class) because my instinctive response is to be blasé about everything. At that time, I elected not to be a “feminist.” Well, my dramatic adolescent transformation into a senior has included a shift in my former apathy for women’s rights. The senior girls recently had a meeting. I did not attend (see: “instinctual response”), but afterwards I was invited to a “For The Girls” group on Facebook, which seems to center around… female empowerment? Not exactly. It centers on clothing and Mean Girls, but it’s a start. We are finally standing together, not against “No Joke Zones” or cliques, but together. Past girls’ meetings have been about not hurting each other’s feelings (I was trying to think of a list of things, but that pretty much sums it up). I would offer up an alternative: that we stop accepting that girls are in this whiny, over-sensitive hole that was dug for us, because I really don’t believe we have to be in it. Personally, I love how ruthless we females are. It proves we have a chance at eventually reaching that true equality we deserve. It’s not going to be handed to us, you guys. It has to be taken. The need to be “lady-like” is nauseating and needs to remain in the 1950s where it belongs. Also in my sophomore year, I was suspended for not having a filter. That’s what it ultimately boiled down to. My whole life, without realizing it, I’d been a feminist. I wanted so desperately to prove that I, too, could have a voice, and not be ashamed of that voice. I overcompensated for how weak the other women I saw were. I never wanted to be that docile. Men are never worried about what they say, and rarely are they condemned for how they say it. Women deserve that privilege, and it’s up to other women to allow it to happen. Though I’m not suggesting that we seek to hurt people, I’d rather apologize for offending someone than spend my life making sure I never do so. So stop beginning and ending your thoughts in class with “I don’t know.” Don’t try to be “For the Boys” just to win their approval. Instead of shyly giggling at some guy’s inappropriate joke, counter with an even more inappropriate joke. I’ve heard them within the safety of the dorm room—I know they exist, guys. Your personalities and your emotions are not predetermined by your gender. Love and shout about your unique opinions, because you’re brilliant and you matter.

What does it mean to be a Deerfield boy? Much more than at previous schools I have attended, boys at Deerfield stick together and almost always have each other’s backs. Because Deerfield is not just our school, but also our home, there is an innate bond tying us to one another from the day we step foot on campus. Furthered by the gender division in both athletic and residential settings, it’s understandable that strong bonds develop among the boys. There are indisputably both pros and cons to this “wolf pack mentality.” First and foremost— the pros. The changes we undergo while at Deerfield can be exciting, but coming of age is a time of high stress, experimentation, and self-discovery. In the process of changing from boy to man, it is inevitable that we are all going to slip up from time to time. I am certainly not condoning breaking major school rules, but it is comforting to know that you can confide in your friends without repercussions if things do go wrong. The intense camaraderie and support that exists between boys at Deerfield is admittedly hard to come by anywhere else. But for those grappling with your standard high school taboos (sex, drugs and Avicii), this is a double-edged sword. From what I have witnessed, boys at Deerfield avoid asking questions or assigning blame. It is the duty of every Deerfield boy to protect one another–whether that means covering for a friend or keeping a questionable situation under wraps. Although keeping a brother out of trouble will preserve his untarnished transcript and keep his parents at ease, it also promotes the mentality that the administration is our enemy. Staying silent could be a gift– or it could prevent a friend from receiving the professional help that he needs. For me, that’s about where the positive aspects of Deerfield’s boy culture end. Undeniably, Deerfield’s “bro culture” perpetuates hookups rather than healthy, long-term relationships with girls. The male solidarity on campus results in the degradation and objectification of women. Hookups at Deerfield are often formed solely on physical attributes and are over well before the night is. Granted, having a meaningful conversation while grinding in a crowded gymnasium over the deafening music might prove difficult. But rarely is an effort made to build upon the relationship once the night is over. Finally, the male dynamics at Deerfield glorify dip, violent video games and, at times, more serious substances. I’ll give violent video games a pass— they’re a fairly harmless, albeit unproductive way to unwind with friends. As for dip and e-cigs, however, I don’t think they are normal or healthy for young men anywhere. It is overwhelmingly clear that peer pressure from older boys can be held accountable. Both dip and e-cigs are acquired habits. Most boys who enter Deerfield have likely never tried either. But by senior year, an astounding number of seniors dip frequently. Is male biology to blame? Maybe. But I don’t know of many other (non-prep) schools where dip is still prevalent. It’s not breaking news that dipping causes cancer, eats away at your teeth and destroys your gums. “Bro culture” at Deerfield bonds our boys closer than ever, but isolates them from girls and even, in some cases, responsibility and safety. In my opinion, the ideal boy at Deerfield does not align with the ideal boy outside of Deerfield. In the strange land outside Deerfield, relationships with women have an emotional component. “For the Boys” becomes a mere joke among friends instead of a dominant way of life; and authority figures are respected instead of flouted. Hopefully Deerfield boys will join the ranks of this new world and become the Deerfield men we can be.

Thailand has experienced much political unrest in the last few years. In 2006, the Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown by Thailand’s military on charges including corruption, human rights violations and plans to provoke violence. Mr. Thaksin was exiled and is now in self- imposed exile. A new constitution was approved in 2007; however, political problems continued, and in 2010, a group called the Red Shirts protested the appointment of Abhisit Vejjajiva to Prime Minister. The protests became violent, resulting in just under 100 deaths and over 1,000 injuries. Now protests have begun again against Thailand’s current Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. Because she is Mr. Thaksin’s younger sister, critics believe she is acting as her brother’s puppet. After she tried to pass an Amnesty Bill that would allow him to return to Thailand, people started to protest again. In response, Ms. Yingluck dissolved parliament and set elections for this coming February. However, protesters recently shut down Bangkok and are persisting with their demonstrations. Neither Wyn Sutuntivorakoon ’14 nor Natalia Briones ’16 has strong feelings about Mr. Thaksin, but “he is a really controversial character,” Sutuntivorakoon said. “There is one group of people who absolutely love him and his party and his ideals, and there is another group who oppose them.” Sutuntivorakoon acknowledges the possibility that Ms. Yingluck is her brother’s puppet, and Briones believes that she is. “The only thing I’m confused about is why she became the next Prime Minister,” Briones said. “Because if she is the sister of Thaksin, she would have to have some connections with him. I think the reason she became Prime Minister was because so many people outside of the city support her, and that’s way more than the people in the city.” Both Briones and Sutuntivorakoon were affected by the Red Shirt protests in 2010. “There were shootings maybe five minutes away from my house, and I couldn’t get out,” Briones explained. “I couldn’t go to school, because they shut down all the roads, and if you went outside you would see Red Shirts. It was kind of like a zombie movie. The streets were empty, and there were piles of dirt everywhere . . . They burned this electricity factory near my house, and we didn’t have any electricity; and they also burned this very big shopping mall in the center of Bangkok, which was scary.” “There is this skytrain in Bangkok that goes along the main roads,” Sutuntivorakoon said, “and I remember riding on it and seeing thousands of people just sitting down on the road. It was just the most bizarre thing you can imagine.” More recently, Briones went to aprotestagainst Ms. Yingluck. “They started playing the national anthem; and being Thai, [I] felt like [I was] part of something,” she said. “It was a pretty overwhelming feeling to be there.” Briones wanted to participate in the protest to have the experience, but then the protest became violent. “I don’t mind if it’s a peaceful protest, because they are just trying to speak for what they believe in,” she said. “But sometimes they take it too far.” No one can know what coming elections will bring. Said Sutuntivorakoon, “I do hope for this whole thing to blow over quickly, because tourism is a big industry in Thailand and tourists won’t want to visit after this. Manufacturing is on the rise in Thailand as well, and investors won’t want to invest, so this is really going to hurt our economy . . . We have a great potential, but with all of this uncertainty and conflict, you don’t really know what is going to happen.”

Ju Hwan Park ’14, one of Deerfield’s most prominent singers and guitarists, has contributed greatly to the music program over the years. “Music is everything to me, so if I don’t do it, I will die!” he has said. At the age of five, Park started playing the violin in Korea, but after failing to get into his school’s orchestra, he switched to percussion. In sixth grade, Park auditioned for Super Star K, Korea’s equivalent of American Idol, but unfortunately did not make it. “Now I look back and say, thank God! Because if I had made it, I never would have come to the U.S., or learned guitar, or been able to see the bigger world.” Park said. The transition to a Connecticut boarding school in eighth grade was a challenge for Park because he did not speak English well. So he immersed himself in music, exploring different genres and joining his school’s rock band. Park still remembers his first performance, singing “Johnny B. Goode.” “I do not think any of my other performances were as powerful as that one,” Park said. “People were surprised. Can you imagine seeing one of your friends who didn’t speak English well singing an American song on stage? At first I was very nervous, but as I saw people’s faces, I started to get excited.” Nowadays, the stage is like home to Park. “I feel much more comfortable now, which can be good, but I do not have that exciting, intense feeling that I had during ‘Johnny B. Goode,’” he admitted. At Deerfield, Park taught himself the guitar during his freshman year. “I had played music for a long time, so it was easy,” he explained. “I really liked the guitar, so I literally played every day for the whole day.” Park is self-taught on many other instruments, including piano, banjo, harmonica and ukulele. “What I love about music is that it’s a universal language,” Park said. “So wherever you go, playing music works.” This idea has allowed him to share his music with the community and beyond, with faculty kids, elementary schools, senior centers, the streets of Korea and even in Italy. “Although I didn’t speak Italian, Istillgottoknowalotofthe street musicians through music,” he said. “It has given me a chance to get to know some amazing people.” Even with all his accomplishments in music thus far, Park is only getting started. He added, “I’m not sure about the future, but I know I will be doing music. Everything could go wrong in my life, but music will never leave my side.” Park sees being a musician as his ideal career. “Many people think it’s too late, or they think I need some kind of special [star] power,” he said. “But when I see all the musicians around the world playing music, I discover that I don’t need any special ‘power.’ If I want to be a musician, I can be a musician.”

After graduating last spring, Lena Mazel ’13 made her dream of being a professional dancer come true. This year, Mazel is one of 16 girls dancing with the Nashville Ballet, the largest ballet company in Nashville, Tennessee. She is in the Professional Training Division, the highest level of the Nashville Ballet School. It allows students to gain professional experience and take classes at the same time. “We understudy some major productions with the company (Nutcracker especially) and take class every day from 9:15 a.m. to 3:30 or 5:00 p.m.,” Mazel explained. While at Deerfield, Mazel said she defined herself as a dancer, but coming to Nashville Ballet- where everyone is a dancer- changed that. “At Deerfield, there is a huge pressure to define yourself by what you do,” Mazel said. “I had to redefine what else made me unique past those superficial categories.” Although Mazel loves Nashville Ballet, the transition was hard for her. Mazel said that she was accepted to the program for the strong training she received at home and at Deerfield, her contemporary training giving her more versatility, and the modern training during her senior year laying the groundwork for her classes now. However, she said, she was behind the company in her technique. “At Deerfield, I was told constantly that I was a good dancer: although this was sweet, it also made me complacent and lazy about my technique,” Mazel said. “I have no such luxury in Nashville. Although the artistic staff are nice people, they are sparing with praise and eager to rush to the next level with our technique and stamina. I am absolutely not used to this, except maybe with Stephanie Shumway’s contemporary class; it’s refreshing.” Mazel feels fulfilled knowing that she has accomplished the dream she has had since she was eight years old. She plans on attending Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, next year and auditioning for companies in the nearby Columbus area. “I’ve gotten to live my dream of dancing with a professional ballet company,” Mazel said. “I can move on now, if I need to.”

This winter the music-co- curricular run by Music Director Daniel Roihl has expanded its repertoire and has many more students involved. The group now includes 14 students: 10 girls and 4 boys, with representation from every grade level. “Last year it was all seniors, so that gave the group a different kind of feel,” said Mr. Roihl. “The fact that the group has students from every grade level this year creates a promising base for future years.” When asked about what he was looking for during the audition process, Mr. Roihl said that he paid attention to how quickly the students could learn music, and most important, the sound of their voices. “The voice is a sort of window into the musical ear,” he said. “By listening to someone sing, you can learn a lot about them as an artist.” Mr. Roihl mentioned a few different reasons behind his choice to expand the group. First and foremost, involving more people allows the group to explore a wider range of music. While the large group dynamic allows for more flexibility in choosing songs, there is still the option of splitting off into smaller groups and working on more individual pieces. Sydney O’Connor ’14, a senior member of the group, praised this change: “Mr. Roihl has split us up into small groups to perform a vast array of repertoire. For example, I am singing in an all- female jazz quartet. This is great, because we are able to perform a larger range of music styles and focus on our voices individually instead of blending them all together, which is a nice change.” Elena Jones ’14 feels the group has been running smoothly this winter. “Chamber singers has been going very well so far,” she said. “We performed in Greenwich at a Deerfield function last week and have lots of activities scheduled for the upcoming weeks. I am really looking forward to our singing tour in New York City at the end of March!” In late March, Mr. Roihl will be taking the entire ensemble to New York City for four days. The group will perform at Riverside Church and spend time with a professional clinician who used to be a part of The Manhattan Transfer, a celebrated American mixed music group. In the meantime, the group meets four days a week for almost two hours each day and has about half a dozen concerts set up throughout the remainder of the winter. The group does a variety of different pieces, including jazz, gospel and contemporary. Although Mr. Roihl has often had to adapt the music as a result of the overwhelming number of female voices compared to male ones, the students have proven that they are up to the challenge: “Because most of us can read music, we are able to fly through songs at a much faster and more advanced rate than any other choir I have been in at Deerfield,” explained O’Connor. “Everyone in the group is really dedicated and has been working really hard, and I think that our group sound and group dynamic reflect that well,” said student participant Nhyira Asante ’16. “We’re all really excited to see where this year takes us.”

This winter, the Deerfield Academy Theater program will present a production of the play Looking After Norman by Scottish writer Stewart Brown. Looking After Norman is a children’s musical about a friendship between an eight-year-old girl, Georgia, and an 82-year-old woman, Mrs. Scott. “This play is about making inter-generational friendships and keeping promises,” said Theater Director Catriona Hynds. “When Mrs. Scott falls ill, Georgia promises to take care of her cat. The only problem is that Dad is allergic to cats. Even so, Georgia keeps her promise to Mrs. Scott.” Dorie Magowan ’15 is playing the role of Mrs. Jones, the social worker. “This is the first time I’m doing a children’s show,” Magowan said. “It’s a lot of fun, but definitely very different from what I’m used to. Everything is much more exaggerated and very animated. The biggest challenge right now is pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone and getting used to the exaggeration.” Mrs. Hynds is looking forward to the different nature of the play. “I have directed lots of children’s theater in the past, but not done so here at Deerfield Academy. It is a really important form of theater because it can have such a huge impact on young children. I am thrilled that our students will have an opportunity to see this impact when we tour local schools next month,” she said. “I’m hoping to have an effect on each child’s experience when they see the show and instill a love of theater in them,” said Magowan. “I would love for a child to be excited about theater and participate in fine arts after seeing the musical.” The theater program is taking this show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland this summer. “We’re coming back to Deerfield on July 26 to tune up the show and get it back up to the standard we need it to be,” explained Sarah Jinich ’15. “On the 29th we’ll fly to London and spend a couple of days there. Then we’ll take a train to Scotland and stay there until August 11th, spending time performing, watching many other performances and experiencing Scottish culture.” “I’m so excited because this is the biggest theater festival in the world,” Magowan added. “At any given time, there are a ton of performances going on. We’re going to have a lot of free time to go around and see shows together, which is going to be an amazing experience.” “There are 17 students coming to Scotland with the theater program,” said Mrs. Hynds. “I’m really happy, because I have an opportunity to share a little bit of my homeland with the students. It is a stunning and deeply cultural country, and the Festival, which is like the Olympics for theater, is just the icing on the cake!” The cast will be performing three shows at local schools as well as three public performances for the local children (February 14, 7 p.m. for Big Brothers and Big Sisters; February 15, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m; all in the White Church).

This year, when the boys varsity basketball team has needed to put up some points, they have often looked to Jesse Browne ’14 to knock down a couple threes. Browne, a postgraduate, began his career by playing games like knockout and P-I-G in the streets of Barrington, Rhode Island: a place he describes as “a small town with a big heart.” In the fifth grade, Browne decided to give organized basketball a try and signed up for his local youth team, immediately taking to the sport. “Playing basketball really turned out to be one of the better decisions of my life so far,” said Browne. “I really like the back and forth nature of the sport. Say if you commit a turnover or miss a shot, you can always make up for it on defense or the next possession.” After playing through the rest of elementary and middle school, Browne made the Barrington High School varsity team his freshman year and quickly became one of its stars, leading his team to the state semi-finals his senior year. “I’d describe myself as a good shooter who can put the ball on the ground, [dribble] if I have to,” said Browne. “But in the end I’m a team-first player, and it’s really just all about the win for me.” After his senior year, Browne decided to take a postgraduate year at Deerfield rather than go straight to college. “Academics have actually always been more important to me than athletics, and I thought Deerfield would be a great place for me to get a quality education, play basketball and make myself more attractive to colleges,” said Browne about his decision. Browne has been very successful both on and off the court at Deerfield, and his teammates and coaches have appreciated his positive outlook and leadership. Teammate Luka Petkovic ’14 said, “He’s funny and always tries to pick people up and keep things positive.” “I’d say he’s kind of like a father figure for me,” said Jack Damon ’15. “He’s always the one to crack a joke and keep my spirits up. As a teammate, you know he’s someone you can trust with the ball, and he’s going to make the right play.” On his future in the game, Browne, who will be attending Vassar College next fall, said, “Hopefully I stay healthy and play four years in college, but then after that I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Squash is one of several sports at Deerfield that require extensive outside commitment, even while the season is in full swing. For some players, balancing tournaments with regular practices and games, as well as Deerfield’s demanding workload, can be quite a challenge. “People play in tournaments for college exposure, to improve and, hopefully, because they enjoy it,” said Connor Henderson ’15. Sam Khalifa ’14 said, “I played [many of these tournaments] when I was doing squash full time in Egypt. Before I thought about moving to the U.S. and making education my main priority, my only goal was to become a professional squash player, so I played in tournaments for competition and experience.” Addie Fulton ’14, captain of the girl’s squash team, explained the JCTs, or Junior Championship Tours: “They’re a series of big tournaments that are pretty similar to nationals at the end of the season, but kids play in them for good competition and to help their ranking.” These outside tournaments often conflict with Deerfield schedules, and they require special approval when a student would miss more than the five class days allotted by the “Pursuit of Excellence” policy. “For example,” said Khalifa, “last year I had the U.S. Junior Open in December, and the tournament was more than five days, so I had to talk to the administration. [Fortunately] they were very understanding. Three months after, in April, there was a qualification for the World Open in Cairo that was a week long, so I talked to the school, and they were, again, very supportive.” “It’s very difficult to do homework on those weekends,” said Lindsey Dewey ’14. “It’s never been a major conflict and teachers are usually understanding, but it is difficult sometimes to manage the two.” “I try to do [tournaments] over breaks,” said Fulton, “so that I don’t have to miss a squash match or school in general, but I am playing in two or three this winter that I have to leave school for during the season. I just plan a week ahead and tell my teachers so that I know what I am missing; I try to meet with them the night I get back.” Other players are equally as careful to not let national tournaments interfere with Deerfield’s demands. Said Cameron Dewey ‘14, “I’m not playing tournaments [in the winter] because the team is my first commitment and we need all of our players for 90% of our matches.” “I have a tough Deerfield schedule,” said Khalifa. “[So] all the tournaments have been reduced; I’m not playing as many tournaments as I’m used to. That was something I knew I would have to give up for an excellent education here.”