What is better than a back-to-back? A three-peat! On Wednesday, February 10, Deerfield’s boys varsity alpine ski team won The New England Prep School Class A Alpine Ski Championships for the third time in a row, and Deerfield’s girls team finished in a tie with Kimball Union Academy for ninth place. “The coaches are extremely proud of the team’s effort, grit, and resilience,” said Coach Marc Dancer. He added that the juniors and seniors on the team are experiencing their third championship in a row, and the boys ski team overall is experiencing its fifth in six years. Coach Dancer believes that the road to winning the New England Championship all started with the dry land training in December and the leadership of the senior captains Hunter Quigg ’16, Jean-Pierre Torras ’16, Nicole Piispanen ’16, and Mark DesLauriers ’16 that kept the team focused on capturing another New England title. The first race of the year was canceled, so the team only had three races to help them prepare for New England’s. The boys started New England’s off on a positive note with a seven-point win in the morning Slalom Race. Jack Cobb ’19, the top Deerfield finisher, came in third place, and Sevrin Sarachek ’17 and Griffin Sarachek ’17 finished close behind in eighth and 12th place respectively. In the afternoon, the boys battled to a third place finish in the Giant Slalom Race (GS), “The closest finish in recent memory,”  Coach Dancer said. Coming in fourth place, Cobb was again the best Deerfield finisher, and Sevrin Sarachek and Garrett Alexander ’19 also earned points. After giving away only two points in the GS Race, the boys team won the overall crown by five points. The girls earned ninth place at New England’s, with captain Nicole Piispanen ’16 finishing in 11th place in the Slalom Race, and Carolyn Melvin ’18 finishing in 24th in the GS Race. Aside from the championship, both the boys and the girls have “grown as a team in general and have gotten a lot closer,” Melvin explained. Looking forward, the coaches are extremely optimistic, because many of the younger racers contributed the most points at the championships. The whole team is hoping to push this momentum of winning into the next ski season helping them to continue the boys’ winning streak and improve the girls’ record even further.

Nate Chong ’17: DCs are very much like 800-pound grizzly bears. You know they exist, maybe you’ve heard stories, but you sure as hell hope that you’ll never come face to face with one. From personal experience, and judging by the general sentiment of those who have sat before the Disciplinary Committee, the fear-factor lies not with the matter of facing consequences, but rather with the amount of ambiguity and suspense that surrounds the punishment. I have faith that, as a cohort of mature young adults, the Deerfield community understands the need for repercussions and consequences. It is when these consequences are not clearly prescribed to corresponding infractions that we wonder and postulate on the extent of our punishment. The lack of information available for students regarding the specifics of disciplinary responses leads to a guessing game that borders on neurosis. Such speculations only worsen the mental stress that is placed on the student. Another aspect of DCs that is surrounded with contention is the amount of time that elapses between being informed of a hearing, the actual hearing itself, and the release of the verdict reached by the committee. Expecting a student to continue life at The Academy under the pretense that nothing has happened, when they have a DC scheduled in two to three days time is unfair. The amount of mental and emotional tax that such suspense places on a student is detrimental, and it is unrealistic to expect them to perform at regular standards while facing such circumstances. At the same time, no one wants to ask a teacher for an extension because of being “stressed about their DC.” Clearly, this would be uncomfortable for both parties. That is why I feel that DCs should be processed as quickly as possible. The emotional stress placed upon students between the time they find out about their DC and the delivered response should not be treated as part of the punishment, and thus should be as minimized as possible. Disciplinary responses to infractions of the rulebook are something that any established institution needs to uphold in order to respect the values and standards to which we set ourselves. However, let us remember that, like any aspect of Deerfield life, the disciplinary process retains “education” as its end goal. Let us strive to keep it that way. Nhyira Asante ’16: I am, unfortunately, personally acquainted with the disciplinary process here at Deerfield. My sophomore fall, I, along with another female student, was DCed for violating Deerfield’s open flame policy. After the incident, I met with a member of the administration who was quick to assure me that I would not be meeting in front of the Disciplinary Committee, despite rumors flying around that indicated the exact opposite. I chose to believe the representative of the administration, trusting that person to have a better understanding of my disciplinary status than my peers did. Soon after, however, I received an email with the details of the time and place of my hearing, and I was forced to accept that the rumors I had heard were more accurate than the information coming from the administration: I was being DCed. I don’t know why the representative misled me; maybe it was to get me to tell the truth, maybe the person was unfamiliar with the process, or maybe the person genuinely didn’t know that I would be getting DCed, but that untruth ultimately destroyed any confidence I had previously had in the Deerfield disciplinary system. I wasn’t really upset because of the DC itself, having accepted it as a consequence of violating the rules, but I was upset because I had been led to believe something that wasn’t true. At the time, it felt like a callous manipulation, the sort of manipulation used on criminals who commit serious crimes—and I knew that whatever I was, I was definitely not a criminal. I have heard this critique of the disciplinary system time and time again: reports of students being deliberately misled, or being made to feel like criminals instead of members of the Deerfield community, when they simply made a mistake. To err is human, and sometimes the disciplinary process seems to punish students simply for being human. I am not excusing my own actions, nor am I excusing the actions of those members of the community who have violated the rules, but I am criticizing the culture around disciplinary hearings—the culture that often results in rumours and distrust and that diminishes the communal harmony of our campus. This culture is further reinforced when the administration DCs students based on the word of other students. A lot of the resentment relating to the disciplinary process stems from the perception that the administration DCs students based on malicious reports from other students, otherwise known as narcing. This perception creates an environment of wariness and discomfort within the student body, and also leads to certain students being ostracised in the wake of disciplinary hearings, neither of which are good for the cohesiveness of our community. To help with this, a fellow Deerfield student  has suggested that student reports should be placed under the category of “community concern,” rather than that of a formal DC; this way, students who are genuinely concerned about their peers would be more comfortable sharing their concerns with adults in the community, and those students who “narc” on other students in order to hurt them rather than help them would be unsuccessful. I genuinely believe that this is one way in which the administration could promote both inter-student and student-administration trust. In my four years here, I have seen an erosion of the trust between the administration and the students—students don’t trust that the deans have their best interests at heart, and the administration doesn’t trust the students to follow the rules. Both this erosion of trust and the punitive rather than restorative nature of our disciplinary process run contrary to the values we strive to espouse here at Deerfield: our values of respect, honesty and concern for others. Any society that does not reexamine itself is a society not worth living in, and we would be doing a disservice to the Deerfield community if we do not take a good, hard look at the way we treat students who make mistakes.

As athletes come and go at Deerfield Academy, it is only natural for the performances of teams to fluctuate. Each sport has its highs and lows, and the graduating class often has a lot to do with each year’s success. The approach of new seasons signal a time to replenish the Academy’s athletic program, but two spring teams may struggle to replace the leadership of last year’s graduates. For the past couple years, the girls varsity crew team stood rather uncontested, winning two consecutive National Championships, so this year, the girls have a lot to live up to. All members of last year’s first boat are now alumnae, and now a less experienced group of athletes must compete in a challenging division. Deerfield has brought in Mr. Charley Sullivan to lead the girls as their new head coach. Coach Sullivan has directed men’s club rowing at the University of Michigan for the past 20 years; there, he  led the team to win the last eight national club championships and has put three rowers on the U.S. Olympic Team. Although the Deerfield squad is currently rebuilding, Coach Sullivan is optimistic: “Even championship teams, and perhaps particularly teams hoping to repeat as champions, have to [rebuild]. In my experience as well, the year after numbers of extremely talented athletes leave, teams can often be quite fast, since talented athletes who have been in second and third boats are actually quite ready to step up and lead. This is the sense I have of this year’s group of girls.” With the correct guidance, leadership, and hard work, the Deerfield girls rowing team aims to maintain the success and legacy left behind by the Academy’s crew veterans. The boys varsity baseball team is in a similar situation. Many players graduated last year, few PGs will join the squad, and Head Coach Michael Silipo’s retirement looms. Senior Captain Charlie Carpenter said, “This year, we are a young, talented team. We are looking for some of the younger guys to step up in important roles.” However, they are not without experienced leadership. Carpenter added, “We also have returners, who will play a crucial role, including Dylan Presnal, Drew Rapoza, and Beau Dana. We are really looking forward to the season.” As the winter term comes to an end, spring teams are already hosting practices. Preseason will further bolster team chemistry. Although the girls varsity crew and boys varsity baseball squads face a dreaded rebuilding year, both teams have new promise.

Nothing hurts more than losing to Choate. Every year, each team plays Choate at least once, but the games we never want to lose are the ones on Choate Day. This fall, Deerfield’s JV teams clearly dominated, while Choate’s varsity teams got the best of us. This fall, Choate published an article in their student newspaper, The Choate News, about Deerfield Day and included statistics from previous years. According to The Choate News on Choate Day, from 2000-2014 Deerfield’s fall teams have suffered 63% losses while only acquiring 30% wins and 7% ties. These statistics were logged from five high profile sports: varsity football, varsity girls soccer, varsity boys soccer, varsity volleyball, and varsity field hockey. To quote a boy from Choate’s senior class, as published in The Choate News, “We may need to invest in a new opponent sometime soon. D-Day is getting a bit sad. It’s like watching a car crash happen; it’s horrible but you can’t look away.” Indeed, our varsity fall athletic teams recently have been losing to Choate, but it hasn’t always been this way. Serena Ainslie ’16 attested, “Just because we’ve lost in recent years to Choate in the fall doesn’t mean that we haven’t had a competitive rivalry in the past 116 years. My cousins went here in the late 1990s, when we used to kill Choate in every sport.” Over the past 15 years, Deerfield has shown its spring athletic supremacy over Choate. As Zeke Emerson ’16, captain of the varsity football team, said, “Obviously, it’s been a tough past few years against Choate for the football team, but it’s always good to look forward to the other seasons, where we’ve seen much more success.” Although in the fall the Boars have been dominating Choate Day, what would a spring Choate Day look like? Many students want to create a Spring Choate Day to continue the tradition of a rival day and provide another opportunity for spectators to watch athletes perform Nina McGowan ’16, a member of the varsity lacrosse team, commented, “I think having a spring Choate Day would intensify the rivalry because the games would be much more competitive.” The results from DA vs. Choate spring sports show that Deerfield clearly dominates over Choate, winning a total of 69% of games while only losing 31%. These percentages are from seven varsity sports: varsity boys baseball (6-8), varsity boys lacrosse (15-1), varsity girls lacrosse (8-8), varsity girls softball (7-8), varsity girls tennis (14-2), varsity boys tennis (13-3) and varsity golf (9-2). Deerfield’s record against Choate in spring matches over the past 15 years is 72-32. Choate’s spring teams don’t stand a chance. Last year, Deerfield swept Choate in every sport except one.

At school meeting on Wednesday, January 11, Dean of Students Amie Creagh shocked many students when she raised concerns about a subject many at DA consider taboo—dating. It’s no secret that in our community there are limited options for “dates,” a problem Ms. Creagh believes prevents students from gaining an important high school experience. “In the real world people do [date],” Ms. Creagh said at School Meeting, “And that’s where you’re all headed.” Many students find dating at Deerfield to be almost nonexistent and believe that Deerfield relationships rarely reach a point in which students call themselves a couple. Although this issue has not been much addressed in recent years, Ms. Creagh noted that the community has spent time this year focusing on issues such as sexual assault, and believes it is important to pair this topic with discussions of relationships and dating. “We had Cindy Pierce here for sexual assault awareness and prevention, and I want to balance that message with those of healthy relationships. Be aware of the world around you: Sexual assault does happen­—particularly on college campuses—and it’s our job as a school to equip students with information and skills to help prevent them from being victims and passive bystanders.” She added, “At the same time, we want to promote healthy relationships and the skills required to build them. Knowing how to date is one of those skills.” Some students cite the high stress environment at Deerfield as a factor that forces the student body into a system of relationships often referred to as the “hookup culture.” Celine Kim ’17 noted, “With the busy schedules students have at Deerfield, and all our requirements, it’s hard to do normal dating stuff, so we [resort] to the hookup culture, and couples tend to fall into that instead of solid relationships.” Others attest to the infamous “Deerfield gender divide” as one of the main factors that prevents relationships forming past the level of a casual hook-up. Camden Kelleher ’18 noted, “There is a pretty prominent gender divide on campus, which generally leads to couples only staying together for a month or two, because there isn’t really a connection between the couple.” In the past year, the administration has taken steps to create more open common rooms, hoping to create additional spaces for people of all genders to spend time together. While students note the good intentions, many do not feel the execution has helped implement change. Katherine von Weise ’17 explained, “The Crowe has helped break the gender divide in the freshman grade, but not as much in returning grades, and has had little impact on the dating culture, only on friendships.” Following Ms. Creagh’s announcement, Deerfield featured its first ever “date night” on Saturday, January 8. The environment was low pressure and intended to help students bond with their peers. A crowd pleaser film, “Star Wars,” was shown in the Hess Auditorium, and concessions such as popcorn, candy, and drinks were provided. The feedback on campus from the “date night” has been very positive, and many students expressed excitement about the opportunity. Sophomore Brenna Hoar ’18 explained, “Date nights are a great way for students to spend time together in a way that resembles normal high school dating. There was a surprisingly large turnout, and hopefully more people [will] continue to attend date night in the future.” For future date nights, students hope to see other styles of dates such as game nights, outdoor movie nights in the warmer months, and perhaps picnic style dinners. Looking to the future, Ms. Creagh and the Weekend Activities Committee plan to make “Deerfield Date Night” a twice-a-month occurrence, allowing students opportunities to go on dates more frequently, whether it be a movie in the Hess, or perhaps dinner for two in the dining hall. Ms. Creagh shared how important the initiative is to her, saying, “I want to make it something of a graduation requirement… I’d like our students to graduate with two years of lab science, and the math requirement, and, hey, you must know how to ask someone on a date, please.” Von Weise noted that in order for these date nights to be successful, and for dating culture here at Deerfield to finally change, the students really have to buy in. While the student body is grateful for the administration’s active approach in creating a dating culture here at Deerfield, Von Weise explained, “The dating culture at Deerfield will be hard to change from a faculty stance … It can only really be changed if the students choose to do so.”

Many students consider The Deerfield Food Committee notoriously ineffective in improving the food at DA. Within the past year, however, the DAFC has managed to make changes that the community has greeted enthusiastically. Currently, the committee is working on having panckes in the Greer on Sunday afternoons, avocados in the Koch, Greek tart frozen yogurt and falafel in the Greer, and better Dining Hall burgers. Along with these ideas-in-progress, the DAFC has already made several changes this year. They have brought “naughty cereal,” like Captain Crunch and Lucky Charms, to some Sunday brunches, Greer iced chais to the Koch, strawberry to-go cups and avocados to the Greer, and waffles and bacon back to breakfast. The process of approving proposals can be difficult. “Making everyone happy and having such a tight food schedule are two huge factors in the challenges we face; you have to give something up to make room for something new,” explained Head of Food Committee Katherine Goguen ’16. Director of Food Services Mr. Michael McCarthy and Assitant Director, Brad Woodward lead the team of students and communicate directly with the kitchen and cafés. Mr. McCarthy noted that in recent years, “Students are notably more knowledgeable about food.” He also explained that DAFC and the dining hall “strive to achieve a balance between… traditional DA foods, like chicken pot pie and apple crisp, while introducing new menu items such as the Greek chicken and pumpkin cake.” Food Committee members continue to stress the importance of student feedback, which helps improve the overall dining experience at Deerfield.

A lot of strong young talent joined Deerfield’s Alpine Ski Team this winter. Head Ski Coach William Chaffee has been coaching Alpine Ski at DA since 2013 and feels that this year’s team has “a bunch of outstanding skiers on both boys and girls teams.” Leading alongside Coach Chaffee are Math Teacher Mr. Marc Dancer and the team’s senior captains: Nicole Piispanen, Hunter Quigg, and Jean-Pierre Torras. At the Class A Championships last season, the girls finished in fifth place, while the boys finished in first. The boys team hopes to repeat that first place victory, and the girls intend to score even higher. With their goals set high and a lot of old and new energy on the team, the only thing missing is snow. El Nino this winter has made for fluctuating temperatures and uncharacteristic weather patterns. Fortunately, the team has managed to not be slowed down by the lack of snow. When asked about the challenges of not having enough snow, Piispanen remained optimistic and remarked that the team has “actually been coping with it pretty well” because they “only need one trail to be open, which is the race trail, and Berkshire East Mountain Resort always makes sure to keep its conditions pretty good.” Located in the town of Charlemont, Berkshire East Mountain Resort, the team’s practice mountain, has one of the best snowmaking facilities in New England, allowing the ski team to train consistently. And even though Deerfield’s Alpine Ski Team has to share the slope, Piispanen said that the team “is used to splitting the trail with the other teams, so it hasn’t really been any more crowded this year than in the past.” The skiers train from 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Coach Chaffee explained, “I meet the team there, so I’m able to set training courses prior to the team’s arrival, so our on-snow time is efficiently used.” At Berkshire East Mountain Resort, the skiers start their practice with a slip run to navigate the course, locate the gates, and make sure the snow is smooth. For the remainder of practice, each member of the team does multiple runs down the slopes, receiving feedback from the coaches at the end of each run. The coaches’ assessments help to ensure that everyone is on target for meeting his or her goals by the end of the season. Comprised of recreational and nationally ranked athletes, the team varies in depth. Regardless, “We have a really great time when we ski together and want to make the best of it,” said FJ Marsh ’19, who joined the team this winter. It appears that the team is well on its way to meeting its goals this season. Coach Chaffee shared, “I’m most impressed with how all the athletes of both genders have come together as a team, supporting each other and helping each other have fun and get faster.”

With the start of the new year, three students—Celia Hurvitt ’17, Caleb Friends ’16, and Lucas Galperín ’16—returned to campus after spending the fall semester away from DA. Hurvitt spent four months at the Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki, in Wiscasset, Maine. She lived in a cabin with seven other girls from schools around the country. She began each day at 6:30 a.m. with routine farm chores before breakfast. Her daily academic schedule was similar to that at DA, except for the frequent half-days, when students either went on science and research-based field trips or participated in the work program, helping with campus upkeep and farm chores. “The 42 of us, [students and faculty,] ran the campus,” Hurvitt said. “There was no maintenance staff—we were the maintenance staff.” The structure of the program contributed to a team atmosphere on campus. She appreciated the sense of unity on the Chewonki campus, where common social divisions at DA, like age and gender, did not exist. She added that since most of the teachers were young, “there weren’t the same kind of divisions” as at DA. Hurvitt valued her time in Maine as a way to learn “skills not taught at Deerfield.” She had the opportunity to cut solar panels, live in a cabin, do farm chores, and grow her own food. “I drank milk that I milked from a cow on the farm, “she said. “It’s cool being connected to your food like that.” Her most significant experience was a two-day solo trip to the coast of the ocean. “I realized how much time I don’t spend alone,” she said. “It was overwhelming at first; I didn’t want to do it.” But once she settled in, she began to appreciate being alone. “I realized it gave me [time] for the things I never get to do—I went swimming, [read, and] painted watercolors.” Hurvitt also said her experience at Chewonki encouraged her to “seek out more conversations with people and realize what a good conversation is.” Without a phone, and with computer access only for schoolwork in class, Hurvitt’s life at Chewonki was “very simple.” After four months “unplugged,” Hurvitt said she and her new friends at Chewonki “almost didn’t want [their phones] back,” when it came time to leave. “It was cool that everyone had made a really active choice to be there; we weren’t distracted by outside things, so we all connected much more.” While Hurvitt remained close to home, Caleb Friends ’16 and Lucas Galperin ’16 traveled abroad for the semester. Friends and Galperin participated in the SYA China Semester program, making Beijing their home for four months. They both lived with host families and attended classes at Beijing Normal University’s Second Affiliated Upper Middle School. Galperin said he had a “great relationship” with his host family and loved cooking with his host mom. Friends agreed: “My [host] dad was trying to learn English, so it was cool to be able to help him.” Both boys enjoyed the big city atmosphere and ease of travel. Galperin explained, “there was always stuff to do and places to explore.” For lunch, all the SYA students were free to wander the city and explore local restaurants. Friends and Galperin often enjoyed noodles and dumplings for lunch, although Galperin said, “Sometimes I kind of missed sit-down meals.” The SYA students studied together on one floor of a middle school, and Friends noted the setup was slightly “isolating” since it limited the SYA student’s interactions with the local teenagers. However, both boys enjoyed their classes. Galperin explained that he spent two to three periods a day studying Chinese. He added, “It was obvious that from day one the Chinese classes were [emphasized]…the Chinese instruction was very high quality.” On the weekends, Friends and Galperin had the opportunity to explore silk markets, attend soccer games, and “hang out with the locals at an internet café.” Friends found one trip to the Shan Xi province in Northern China for a week particularly interesting, because “not a lot of tourists travel to Shan Xi; it was cool being the only Americans.” While grateful for their experience in China, both were ready to return to the U.S. and life at DA. “It’s nice coming to back Deerfield and appreciating it more,” Galperin said. “There are so many things we take for granted here.”

This winter, students do not need to travel far to gain a new international perspective. Arianna Sanchez, a junior from Lima, Peru, recently arrived at the Deerfield campus for a month-long exchange facilitated by the Round Square program. Ms. Anna Steim, English Teacher and member of the Global Studies Committee, explained, “Many of the schools with which Deerfield has an exchange relationship are Round Square schools: King’s Academy in Jordan, Schule Schloss Salem in Germany, the Doon School in India, and Markham College in Peru.” She describes Round Square as “a network of schools from around the world that share a belief in six IDEALS: Internationalism,lDemocracy, Environmentalism,XXAdventure, Leadership, and Service.” Sanchez was inspired to come to Deerfield after hosting two exchange students from the U.S. and U.K. and meeting two Deerfield students who worked on service projects sponsored by her school, Markham College. She is excited to be in the U.S., where she wants to attend college, and she even gave up a month of her summer for the frigid Deerfield winter. Sanchez isn’t hesitant to admit that “the weather is cold compared to Peru.” Despite the cold air outside, Sanchez has enjoyed her first two weeks at DA. Compared to her past educational experiences, she said, “Here, you feel a bigger sense of community because you live with these people.” Sanchez has enjoyed getting to know her peers, “especially the girls on the hall,” and also loves sit-down meals when she has the opportunity to interact with students from different grade levels. Outside of classes, Sanchez participates in community service for her co-curricular activity. She explained that her school in Peru placed a strong emphasis on service. “We go to poor areas in Peru,” she said, “where we build houses for [citizens] and teach children basic English and Spanish.” Sanchez was shocked to learn that this part of Massachusetts is “one of the poorest areas” in the state. Here in the U.S., “the schools have computers and smart boards,” she said. “But in Peru, we had to build the school. It had one classroom and we had to build [it],” she explained. In addition to service, Sanchez loves music and especially enjoys Mr. Van Eps’s ‘Composition: Songwriting’ class, which she described as “very different and interesting,” since the music classes she has taken previously “were more focused on theory.” Sanchez recommended that all DA students apply for Round Square. “They shouldn’t be scared of change!” she said.

After last spring’s disciplinary rule changes regarding drugs and alcohol, Dean of Students Amie Creagh has put forth increased efforts to make the internal decision processes of the Disciplinary Committee (DC) more accessible and transparent to the community by organizing information sessions each term. At a recent DC information session, Ms. Creagh covered how a DC committee hearing works and gave a general review of disciplinary decisions from this academic year in hopes of elucidating the facts associated with each case and generating more student trust of the DC. The DC committee is comprised of the Dean of Students, Ms. Creagh, who chairs the committee and presents the case, a Class Dean, three students, and two faculty members. The committee convenes when students are suspected of violating a major school rule. The students have the option of selecting community members to serve as their advocate during the hearing. After the Committee has established the facts of the case by speaking with the student and anyone else involved, the students and advocates leave the hearing. After evaluating the evidence, the Committee decides by majority vote whether a major school rule has been broken. If a school rule is found to be broken, possible responses include probation, suspension, enrollment review, and expulsion. It is important to note that the Dean of Students only votes in the case of a tie, which, according to Ms. Creagh, has rarely occurred in DC hearings. At the information session, Ms. Creagh summarized the cases that occurred from September 2015 to December 2015, including only a brief description of the events and the responses in order to protect student privacy. As Ms. Creagh’s presentation at the meeting drew to a close, students asked questions about why Ms. Creagh had decided to implement these sessions. Ms. Creagh responded that she “wanted to be seen as trusting in students” and “as being fair and not hiding things from kids.” She continued that she “cares about students and feels like they are mature enough to have a candid conversation about all the very complicated factors that go into crafting a response for a student when he or she makes mistakes.” She emphasized that the purpose of the DC is to not simply “punish” students for a particular mistake, but to allow them to think through their actions and learn from their mistakes. “I think mistakes are wonderful things,” she said, “If you respond to them correctly [and] if you have good guidance and support.” Understanding that there were rumors and confusion about the disciplinary process, Ms. Creagh asserted that her goal was to let “every Deerfield kid have the opportunity to get as much information as possible about the DC workings” as well as “to dispel and demystify some rumors that lead to students feeling that it’s unfair, rigged, and not representative of school values.” She hopes “to see greater fact ripple through community than the fiction that has permeated after most other hearings.” She closed the session by asking the students about what they thought and said she hopes to “keep at this” and is “wide open to guidance and advice about how best to equip students with facts, so that when they make judgments about how DC works, it’s at least based on reality.”

Have you ever wanted to start your own business? To pursue a passion, market it, and pocket a profit? There are many Deerfield students who would love to do just that. And we’ve all heard the age-old spiel about how intelligent and motivated Deerfield students can be. The issue is not with capability, but rather with permission. Here at the Academy, there are rules against students making a profit off of their peers. While a spokesman from the administration noted that the school supports students raising funds that promote a common good, students are not allowed to pursue personal profit. Here at , we see a serious issue with this rule. Deerfield prides itself on being an academic institution that gives its students the opportunity to explore their passions. The option of taking a sixth academic course, the wide variety of spring electives offered to seniors, the independent study program, the ability to petition for a co-curricular exemption, and the array of extracurricular clubs and activities offered here at Deerfield are all proof of that. Why, then, does Deerfield not support students eager to turn their passions into profit? This January, Deerfield hosted an event called Pathways, where eight alumni shared their stories with upperclassmen students. Two of these alumni were entrepreneurs who spoke very fondly of their experience in founding and running their own businesses. board sees a lack of consistency in the fact that the school brought in these entrepreneurs to share their stories with us, yet discourages us from pursuing similar ambitions while at school. We here at are calling for a change in this policy. We believe that Deerfield students should be allowed to follow their passions in any way they wish. If this means pursuing a personal profit, then props to them.

When you were little, did you ever have friends your mom made you hang out with, even though you didn’t want to? Then those friends kept showing up, and you were confused and sick of them. Soon enough, those friends were around so much that you got used to them. Finally, those friends were always with you and never left, and you almost began to enjoy having them around. Until last year, this was my relationship with my mental illness. My depression took root in the beginning of my middle school years and will be with me for the rest of my life. Although I was mostly a happy child, I suffered bouts of deep sadness that felt like a heavy boulder on my chest. These bouts would come and go, but they did not outwardly affect me until I was a new sophomore at Deerfield. We all know that some people find winter at Deerfield lonely, dark, and long. I began isolating myself in my room, pulling away from my relationships, and giving up on schoolwork. During the last few weeks of spring term, my sadness surrounded me constantly. But that summer after my sophomore year, my friend depression rarely came around anymore, and I was thankful for her absence. Two weeks before my junior year began, however, my friend came back and planned to stay. My sense of well-being was already compromised, and I totally lost it after someone I knew and loved broke serious sexual boundaries with me. I did the worst thing a victim can do, and I pretended it hadn’t happened. This all became too much, and I attempted to take my own life. I returned to school for the fall of my junior year, but I realized that I could not handle the stresses Deerfield presented. I went to treatment for my depression and returned to the valley for my senior year. Coming back from medical leave was definitely not what I expected. I saw a stark contrast between my treatment facility—a place full of aware and accepting people—and my experience at Deerfield. Although my friends were extremely supportive, they seemed to be the only ones who knew what had been going on in my life for the past year. Dr. Josh Relin, Director of Counseling at Deerfield, has explained to me that federal laws designed to protect patient privacy constrain what information can be shared in workplaces and schools. “There is a strong firewall between what happens in the Health Center and the other adults in the community due to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act),” he said. “This law determines how health information can and cannot be shared.” HIPAA was designed to protect patient privacy, yet in my experience, it left me feeling very much alone. I didn’t care that students thought that I had left because of an eating disorder, or that I had been bullied, but it concerned me that my teachers and advisors didn’t know what I had been going through. Even though it was helpful for me to discuss my struggles with all of those important people in my life, it was still uncomfortable, and it was hard for me to take the initiative. In the future, I hope that the Health Center reaches out to students before they return from medical leave in order to discuss how the school can make their adjustment back to Deerfield less difficult. If they had reached out to me, I would have let them know that I wanted my circumstances shared with my teachers and advisors before I returned to campus; this would have made my transition back a lot easier. Deerfield is one of the top educational institutions in the country, yet no one seems to know how to talk about mental illness. People talk about cancer freely; why is it so difficult to discuss the effects of depression, bi-polar, anxiety, or schizophrenic disorders? Just because the illness may not be outwardly visible doesn’t mean the person suffering from it isn’t struggling. I have experienced a lot of stigma surrounding mental health on Deerfield’s campus. As students, we have the power to end that immediately. Stigma places blame on the person suffering from the illness and makes them ashamed to talk openly about what they’re going through. Teachers and students on our campus can do their best to be more aware when discussing mental health issues. If someone says they’re feeling depressed, a good way to respond would be, “What are some other things you’re feeling? What do you think has brought this on?” If you don’t feel comfortable saying either of those, say, “I don’t understand what you’re going through, but I am here for support.” Too often, people speak before they think, and that can damage the trust in a relationship. If someone confides in you, try not to say, “It’s all in your mind,” or “lighten up,” or, my personal favorite, “Happiness is a choice.” No, it’s really not. When I’m in a really bad place, I  do my best to surround myself with positive people and upbeat music, but too often it feels as if I’m drowning in my own thoughts, while everyone else seems to be breathing comfortably. Many people are suffering, but because many people feel uncomfortable talking about it, no one is aware of the sufferers. This leaves people feeling even more alone. Since I spoke about this issue at school meeting, I have had countless people approach me, telling me that they, too, are struggling and would love to be more open about it. I am calling all members of the Deerfield community to come forward and talk freely about mental health issues. We are all either struggling or know someone who is battling an illness; let’s come together to make our community more inclusive and comfortable.