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On Friday, October 21, 2022, students crowded a makeshift thrift shop in the Deerfield Athletic Center. Everyone who makes a purchase gets an automatic two-for-one: a new item of clothing and the knowledge that their money went to helping those in need. The Deerfield Thrift Store, founded in Winter Term 2021, gives students a chance to clear out their overflowing wardrobes, get a lightly used and very cheap clothing item and raise money for the Greenfield Family Inn and Shelter.   Stephen Souder ’23, Sloan McClure ’23, Osegie Osayimwen ’23, Campbell Fealy ’24, and Tom Spater ’23 have been working since last spring to prepare for the second ever Deerfield Thrift Store event this past fall. Spater ’23 said he was struck with the idea when, “[he] went to a thrift shop with [his] mom, and afterwards she [said], ‘what if you did it at Deerfield?’” Spater gathered his friends and began planning the first Deerfield Thrift Store in November 2021.   In order to make this year’s thrift shop just as successful as the last, the students underwent a month long planning process. It started last spring when they put donation boxes in every dorm where students could donate their unwanted clothes. Similar to last year, they created a raffle system where students earned tickets for each item of clothing they donated. Once the collection period ended, they sorted and tagged all donated clothing, amounting to over 700 items, which took over 20 hours to complete. The team then purchased racks and hangers and completed the final step: transforming the dance studio into the Deerfield Thrift Store.  In explaining how the organizers chose the prices, Fealy ’24 said, “We wanted [our whole inventory] to be affordable… so even things that were more high end were still 25 dollars or under.” On the whole, customers agreed. Gracie Spencer ’25, said, “I think [the items] were reasonable; they were not overpriced or under-priced.” Despite these student-friendly prices, the event still managed to raise over $2,500 for charity. Last year, all of the money was donated to the Greenfield Family Inn and Shelter, but the organizers haven’t finalized where the money will be going this year.  In the future, the thrift shop organizers plan to expand their influence both on and off campus. They plan on opening applications to help organize future events, and they also hope to create another Thrift Shop in Spring Term. The group also wants to expand their impact outside of Deerfield, raising money all across New England. Regarding logistics, McClure ’23 said, “We have branched out to other independent schools in New England and are now going to be under the term of the New England Thrift Shop Association.” In the future, boarding schools including Andover, Berkshire, Brooks, Choate, Groton, Loomis, Suffield, Taft, and Westminster plan to host similar events to raise money for local charities. These events will form a network of partners within the New England Thrift Shop Association, which started as a small idea shared among friends.

Recently, a hole in the Hess lawn gaped open, mounds of dirt piled up, and a team of workers quietly installed a new backup pipeline for Deerfield’s heating system.  Dave Purington, Director of Facilities Operations, summarized how the current heating system “delivers steam from the gym to the Main School Building [MSB].” He added, “Then the steam is used to heat the MSB, Kendall, Arms, and the Hess. The previous delivery system was failing. The pipes that we were building are now the backup if the other one fails.”  Yet beyond the simple appearance and explanation of the construction site, there was months of careful planning and hard work behind the scenes. This summer, the first backup pipeline began to fail. According to Mr. Purington, the school’s graduation tent accidentally cracked and rusted the pipe. He further explained, “It’s critical to have reliable heat. We didn’t discover all of the failures until late in the summer, and it was just too late to start the project before we were welcoming students. We needed time to plan the project, buy materials, and schedule the project. We [made] appropriate progress every day, [and tried to prevent] truckloads of materials [from being stuck due to] supply-chain problems.”  From 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. for roughly two weeks, the Deerfield Facilities Department, the Grounds Department, and the vendor, The Moran Company, worked together on the pipeline. The process of installing the new pipeline is easier said than done, and requires complex physics and engineering. Mr. Purington explained, “Certainly the first step was to remove the failed pipe.” He explained, “We needed to dig the ditch, uncover it, cut the ends, lift it out of the ground, and build a bridge across the sidewalk.” Mr. Purington added that welding and putting in the new pipeline was even harder: “The thing that most people don’t recognize when they’re walking by is that the pipe is very carefully placed in. The ground that the pipe is sitting on is sloped, very carefully pitched because steam has to drain by gravity. Everything has to be consistently pitched. We can’t just dig a hole and put the pipe in. Part of the pipe even has a bend, which is called the expansion loop.” At the expansion loop, the metal has to be predictably heated from the air temperature outside to the hot temperature of a tea kettle that produces steam. In this way, the pieces of pipe around the expansion loop will get longer and bend. Finally, the pipe is pressure tested and isolated to make sure the joints work well, the hole is backfilled, and the site is cleaned up.  All this work is supposed to go unnoticed. Mr. Purington explained, “The way [the pipeline] will impact campus is you’ll never know that something has changed. Right now we’re already delivering heat to the Main School Building. If we decide to switch from using the backup line, we will just continue delivering heat to the buildings. People in the buildings will never know it changed, which is the whole goal of the backup plan. We have heard nothing [about the construction site], which is good news. That means the construction team has done a good job of not creating a nuisance. And in the past, people have talked about it being too loud.” Although the installation goes unnoticed, it’s meaningful to realize that there’s more behind the scenes of a gaping hole and a big pile of dirt. After all, even this article captures only a fraction of this complex project.

Amidst rapid supply chain issues and a commitment to minimizing environmental strain, the dining hall staff has been working hard to keep students satiated — efficiently providing food for 655 students, faculty, and their families.  According to the Director of Food Services Michael McCarthy, he and the department managers have a menu meeting every Thursday afternoon. Deerfield meals typically rotate on a five-week cycle in addition to seasonal and the most popular meals repeating, and the dining hall confirms meals three or four weeks in advance. Mr. McCarthy said, “When we go to do [a] menu [item] again, we look at what the statistics were, how much we made, how much was left over, and then we make decisions based on that data and information on how we’re going to do it the next time.” He added that this is further complicated by the fact that students’ food interests are constantly changing: this year, Deerfield is buying over 30% more rice than in 2021-2022 to keep up with demand.  However, gauging the school’s appetite by the number of portions consumed per student can be misleading because of food waste. According to Mr. McCarthy, even if just 100 students, or 15% of the student body, take an extra serving during a walk-through meal but throw it away, “[the Dining Hall] might run low, and then we will compensate for that.” This furthers the issue of food waste since they will buy more food and cook more meals but often students will only consume the same amount of food as last time; and, to make matters worse, as Mr. McCarthy noted, student behaviors tend to be highly unpredictable.  Moreover, according to Brad Woodward, Assistant Director of Food Services, students tend to take more food than they end up consuming. Interestingly, when Deerfield hosted the international student debate competition, Mr. Woodward observed, “It was very noticeable to me how much less food that group of students took than Deerfield students. On Saturday night, I saw one of the debate students go through the slider bar and got one slider, which is small, it is a little hamburger. And I do not think I have seen Deerfield students only take one slider. Normally, Deerfield students take four or five and only eat two or three of them, and the others just get wasted.” He said that he hopes the school will attempt to educate students about this avoidable issue.  Furthermore, Mr. Woodward and his crew try to source our meals from the most environmentally friendly sources. Obtaining chicken and beef locally is more challenging, but Mr. Woodward still tries to “source ground beef locally as we know that beef is very environmentally damaging to produce, [and] locally [sourced] beef is much better — it’s pastoral, so it has a much lower environmental impact.” Also, because it is more accessible, Deerfield “tries to source vegetables locally; for example, at this time, we get a lot of squash and potatoes locally.”  While producing waste is inevitable, Deerfield aims to recycle almost everything it utilizes. According to Mr. Woodward, the Dining Hall “[does] a program on Mondays called Second Helpings, where [it] contribute[s] food to a community meal that gets served in Greenfield.” Furthermore, Mr. Woodward mentioned that “everything that we cannot really utilize ends up being composted. So we put that in a dumpster, and that gets trucked up to a farm in Greenfield called Martin’s Farm. They compost the leftover food waste and scraps and any kinds of trimmings when we peel vegetables or fruits or clean meat or anything like that.” Most intriguing to the average Deerfield student is why, when they wonder about the lunch or dinner ahead, they are usually met with chicken.  Mr. Woodward said, “A lot of it stems from sit-down meals. Finding meals that appeal to such a huge population at the same time, chicken is the easiest way to do that. And for various reasons, people tend to not eat pork or beef due to philosophical or dietary reasons.” In terms of the environment, he stressed, “Chicken, in terms of an animal protein, is less intensive on the environment compared to other proteins.”  Exploring the reasoning of Deerfield’s chicken craze illustrates the many factors — aside from simple preferences — that the Deerfield Dining Hall must take into consideration when planning out meals.

Dear Reader, 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the Choate Rivalry. To celebrate the centennial, the Deerfield Scroll collaborated with the Choate News to create a special issue reflecting upon the days of glory. While researching for the articles, we asked our Associate Editors to flip through the black and white faded copies of the Scroll dating from 1927 to 2020. Each picture, each article, and each line offered a wealth of knowledge — the Deerfield Scroll has been and will continue to be a time capsule for future generations.  A 1984 Scroll article that explored the tokenization of Black students on campus can help us examine the progress or lack thereof in inclusion efforts made since then. Another article from 1995 unveiled the prevalence of eating disorders on campus at the time, providing a reference point for us to examine the same issue now. More recently, Mr. Lim reached out to inquire about political discourse at Deerfield as part of a project for the UPenn fellowship program last year. We were able to provide him with information from the historic 2020 election issue tabulating the voting preferences of students by dorm.  This 2022 November issue features a guide by Kaitlyn Xia ’24 on how to access contraceptives at Deerfield in the wake of the Supreme Court case Dobbs. vs Jackson Women’s Health.  In the sports section, Ryan Bai ’26 accounts the revival of the annual Deerfield triathlon after a brief hiatus. We hope that in five years, in ten years, in fifty years, these articles will still be timely and significant. The Scroll will always be here to record the ups and the downs of the Academy as factually as possible.  Despite the Scroll’s enduring longevity, we have also made our fair share of mistakes along the way. In our last issue, we wrote an article regarding Grace Park and Miya Sasaki’s visit to the academy before the event occurred. All interviews were conducted, but quotes and tenses were modified without proper practice. Moreover, the event was canceled after we had already sent it to print due to unforeseen circumstances. We shouldn’t have modified the quotes and we shouldn’t have printed the erroneous copies — we sincerely apologize for our mistakes and shortcomings. We can and will do better.  Looking forward, the Scroll will strive to uphold journalistic integrity and act as a historic record for future generations to come. And as always, we welcome anyone to join us on this journey. I want to end this letter with one of my favorite quotes by novelist Judy Croome, “Today’s news is tomorrow’s history.” I hope that the issue you hold in your hands is worthy of remembering, and worthy of our heritage.  Warmly, Sunshine 냈懃而

Affirmative action is set of procedures designed to “eliminate unlawful discrimination among applicants, remedy the results of such prior discrimination, and prevent such discrimination in the future,” according to Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute. In other words, affirmative action aims to rectify historical wrongs by ensuring equity of opportunity across racial backgrounds. The Supreme Court heard arguments on October 31 regarding the necessity of affirmative action in U.S. college admissions while trying the cases Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard and SFFA v. University of North Carolina . Opponents of affirmative action question the educational benefits of racial diversity and accuse affirmative action of creating “reverse discrimination.”  From my experience at Deerfield, I can speak to the benefits of affirmative action. The Academy represents 47 countries and 44 percent of its students self-identify as people of color; this diverse gathering of students exposes the community to new ideas, debunks prejudices, and provides a more holistic view of the world. Different life experiences produce different opinions and perceptions of the world, fueling more interesting student-led discussions.  Advocates of the concept of “reverse discrimination” argue that affirmative action denies some qualified white and Asian candidates by elevating students from underrepresented racial groups. However, affirmative action actually works toward equality of opportunity by correcting systematic biases. Dean of Ethical and Spiritual Life Jan Flaska,  who hosted a series of discussions on affirmative action, said that affirmative action “tries to balance the historical baggage that the United States carries, and also allows universities, colleges, and workplaces to try to make a complete picture.”  Moreover, universities make this choice in order to balance representation and ability. Even if honoring underrepresented voices requires the rejection of some qualified candidates belonging to a dominant voice, it is more important to a successful community that all voices are heard. Today, cultures interact with each other to form a global community enhanced by the transportation of people and ideas. At a school, when studying different regions and aspects of the world, a diverse student body allows for a more relevant, authentic, and complete learning experience through informative  and pleasantly unexpected interactions. Of course, equally important is a diverse faculty body, matching that of the students, to create representation and a sense of belonging. Certainly, in an ideal society, affirmative action would not be needed at all to make up for historic inequalities of opportunity and social mobility. However, given that this possibility is unlikely, we must account for race as a part of identity — and a part of the admissions process.

What would you do if you won the lottery? Pay off my student loans, invest a bunch of it, and then I might go shopping for a new car. What was your least favorite and favorite subject in school growing up? My least favorite was chemistry; something didn’t click. I liked to write, and I was a sociology major in college, so I wrote a lot. It’s kind of a cool way to express yourself. What is your dream vacation? I’ve never been out of the country, besides Canada, so really anywhere across the pond. Italy would be really cool to visit, as well as some Eastern European countries. What has been the most surprising thing about DA that you have found? How invested all the faculty are into giving all the students the best possible experience that they can get! What is your favorite place to work on campus? In terms of just sitting behind the computer, I honestly don’t mind just sitting in the dining hall. It’s more open and there are more people in there, and somehow I’ve just been very productive there.

One stormy Friday morning, Philosophy Teacher Doug Kremm announces to his Philosophy of Happiness Class that he already has a date in mind for a surprise quiz next week. On Sunday night, the terrified students convene to predict which day the surprise quiz would take place. They quickly realize that if the quiz was on Thursday, then there would be no quiz on Tuesday. In that case, the students can infer that the quiz is on Thursday by the end of Tuesday. But if they know it would happen on Thursday before it actually happens, then it would no longer be a surprise. And since Dr. Kremm never lies, the students conclude that the quiz must be on Tuesday.  “But then,” a student says, as the others prepare to leave, “if we know that it’s definitely on Tuesday, would that quiz still be a surprise?”

If you are new to Deerfield, or simply looking for a new Doordash go-to, this Top 10 Doordash Locations list may help out. 10. Dunkin’: There couldn’t be a more authentic Massachusetts cultural experience than enjoying a coffee and donut from Dunkin’. With that said, it is quite ridiculous for someone to Doordash Dunkin’ for just themselves, or even a small group of people. A singular large iced coffee comes out to $10.82! Furthermore, it’s rare to see Doordash drivers active in the mornings. Deerfield students often wait three hours for a then watered-down iced coffee. The Greer, Koch Café, and Bittersweet all make a cheaper, faster, and arguably better cup of coffee. Given that Dunkin’ is the only place to get breakfast, it secures the number ten position. 9. Wild Roots: Less popular among Deerfield students, Wild Roots is without a doubt the most healthy option. Anyone looking for a smoothie fix, a proper salad, or a protein-packed sandwich will be satisfied. Unfortunately, Wild Roots isn’t cheap. The menu features $10 Smoothies, $11 Avocado Toast, and $13-18 Sandwiches. Wild Roots lands itself the number nine spot due to its combination of high prices and unique presence in the Deerfield area. 8. McDonalds: McDonalds has built up a reputation as a versatile asset to Deerfield students. McDonalds is popular in feeds, due to its high volume of food to dollar ratio. McFlurries, McNuggets, and Fries can satisfy any dorm. McDonalds is perfect for large groups looking for a late-night snack. Everyone’s go-to fast food joint lands comfortably at number eight. 7. Mr. Beast Burger: Why have a Big Mac when you could have a Beast Burger? A central criticism of the Beast Burger comes from its producer, Mr. Beast, a stunt YouTuber. Regardless, they make a solid burger, for a good price too. Factor out the hate, and the newly established burger joint is Deerfield’s number seven. 6. Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC): KFC makes some delicious chicken, whether that is between bread, in the famous bowl of mashed potatoes and corn, or just the classic fried chicken… Deerfield students eat their fair share of chicken, but KFC beats out all other fast food places in the area, landing a spot just short of the top five. 5. 99 Restaurants: Take a look into the mind of a hungry Deerfield student on a Saturday night. They want burgers, wings, fries, and all the other American classics. 99 Restaurants is just that, an American pub with a high volume of food at a cheap price. 99 is exactly what many students want when someone mentions ordering food. It’ll fill anyone up, and leave only a small dent in their bank accounts.  4. Kobe Hibachi: Unless you want sushi from Big Y, Kobe Hibachi is your only option. Kobe offers a wide selection of delicious sushi rolls and sashimi, among other Japanese cuisine plates. It does, however, come at a high price, a spicy salmon roll (their #1 seller) costs $8.50. Even so, it would be an injustice to leave Kobe Hibachi outside the top 5. 3. Thai Blue Ginger: Thai Blue Ginger is surely the best Asian cuisine option accessible to Deerfield students. Thai Blue offers a wide variety of delicious Thai dishes, most notably their Pad Thai and endless fried rice options. With lower prices than that of Kobe, Thai Blue secures the number three spot. 2. Bueno Y Sano: If you are a Deerfield student still choosing Mesa Verde over Bueno Y Sano, this list is for you. If you need to kill your burrito cravings, note that Bueno Y Sano hovers around the same price level as Mesa, and outdoes them in options and quality. If the Dining Hall is serving your not-so-favorite meal, Bueno Y Sano is exactly where to look if you are a fan of Mexican food. Bueno is at the pinnacle of the Doordash experience, but not number one. 1. Hangar Pub and Grill: Could there really be anything else at number one? Hangar is the ultimate feed, and most importantly the staple of Deerfield’s Super Bowl Sundays, featuring wings, mac and cheese, sandwiches, mac and cheese filled sandwiches, and more. It is 99 Restaurants, but superior in quality. To fully immerse yourself into Deerfield’s Doordash culture, Hangar is absolutely the best overall choice.

Rest and relaxation is something all students crave in the middle of the day. Luckily, they have community time, which allows students fifty-five minutes of free time between first and second period. There’s an almost infinite amount of things students could do during this time—from catching up on extra work to taking a nap. But if you’re going to do something in community time you need somewhere to do it, and while you might not realize it, these locations can reveal a lot about your personality! Dining Hall : You like DIY food— from toasting your own bagels to a bowl of cereal. You want to get some work done but also like sitting at a table and talking with friends. This is about as neutral as you can get. A blend of work, eating, and study.  The Koch Cafe: You like food even more than the Dining Hall group, so much so that you’re willing to fork over your One Card to get a vegan brownie. You really like socializing with other students, as everyone is crowded together at those tiny tables. You insist that you have work that must get done during this period, but you know too well that the all consuming chit-chatting will get the best of your attention. And don’t lie, you definitely cut the line.  The Library: According to a student survey, this is the most popular destination for community time, so you’re kinda basic. You’re also serious about getting your work done, unless you’re one of those people who’s always with your friends in the basement. You could also be a senior having a meeting with your college advisor, discussing all the tasks that fill up your agenda and the many things that make you original. You are either one of the most productive students at Deerfield, or you procrastinate your work until the last minute and have no option but to do it during this time.  The Dorm: You either really want to focus on studying, take a quick power nap, call your family, or want somewhere quiet to relax. However, this year, this location could also mean you simply want to go on your phone due to the new phone policy. If you’re on the other side of mainstreet, I applaud you for making the trek over every community time. Or maybe you’re just recluse.  While there are many more places you could spend your community time, these four are the most populated with students at 10AM. If you do not go to one of these four locations during community time, some would call you original, or maybe you’re just trying to be different. Or maybe you like variety and do not have one set location. If you are looking for your friends or peers during this time, these are the first places you should look!

I wonder what these girls would’ve done if I was a mean ghost. I don’t recall ever dying sheets violet, or giving the creeps in my afterlife, but perhaps my memory of the past century is faulty. Though I do remember this one group of girls in particular. They were terrified of me, but all I ever did was walk down the hall of Poc I, and maybe mess with a trash can or two. My crime against the trash caused them to feel the need to “cleanse” the building, as if I’m some kind of disease. Last time I checked I was here first, but what do I know?  For the past however many years, I’ve just been roaming around more discreetly to avoid any contact with the living. Everything was going great, I was able to walk as I pleased, the girls I shared the space with slept peacefully, everything was as it should be. Until, inevitably, the past came back to haunt me. Who would have thought?  “Did you hear? There’s a ghost in Poc!”  “Are you serious? That has to be fake, people make stuff up all the time.”  “There’s this old Scroll article that talks about her, look!” “Violet the ghost…”  And of course news got around about my oh-so interesting past of walking around halls and scaring innocent people. Of course, the next logical step for these girls was “-Ouija board! We should try and speak with her!”  “Oh my gosh, that’s such a good idea. Do you think she’s evil?” Perfect, just what I needed, some nosy kids trying to communicate with the dead. For a moment, I thought about messing with them afterwards. Watching them run down the hall and slamming the door behind them was rather entertaining. They were having their fun, so I thought “Why can’t I do the same?” “Did you guys hear that! That was totally her right? I mean it was clear as day!”  “This is starting to freak me out guys…”  “She was nice; come on she didn’t do anything malicious.” Whatever they heard, it wasn’t me, but I’ll let them continue to make their own assumptions. What’s confusing is that my ghostly presence isn’t nearly as strong as some of the other spirits in this valley, and yet the focus is on me. It feels almost undeserving.  You have ghosts like Eunice Williams, whose stories are much more interesting than mine. All I’m known for is messing with young girls for my own entertainment, which isn’t even all that true. She has a real story behind her death, and her spirit is still here for real reasons. No one knows why my spirit remains in Poc. Matter of fact, I don’t even know why my spirit remains here. All the other ghosts have some “unfinished business” they need to take care of. Seeing a relative, getting to experience something for the first time, finding justice and truth after death. Then there’s me, Violet the ghost, messing with people’s trash cans.  A small part of me is thankful for the attention, it makes me feel special since I’m constantly surrounded by spirits with purpose. Then again, I know that the attention is mostly negative and largely because these teenage girls  are rather bored.  So I’ll just continue to wait patiently for the next chapter of my existence to start, whatever it may contain.

At Deerfield Academy, students are tasked with juggling a litany of responsibilities: classes, homework, co-curricular activities, clubs, socializing, are all some of students’ top priorities, and are essential to feeling acclimated to Deerfield life. However, just as essential is getting accustomed to the unique language that Deerfield students use.   Acronyms, nicknames, and abbreviations litter the vocabulary of Deerfield students, and being new to this Wild West of the language world can be daunting. Fret not! We are here to help! New students, especially, listen up! This… is Deerfield Slang 101: Scheme : If you’re even as much as 1% versed in the social culture of Deerfield, you’ve undoubtedly heard this term used.  Noun – The subject of one’s current romantic interest and pursuit.  Ex. “Jerry Huang is my new scheme.” Verb – The act of romantically pursuing someone. Ex. “I heard you’re trying to scheme that new girl in your math class!” Buy in : A popularly propagated Deerfield colloquialism that encourages students to appreciate the time and experiences they have at Deerfield. Prepositional Verb – To actively participate in, and attempt to enjoy, the happenings of Deerfield culture, tradition, and daily life. Ex. “Dude get out of your room and come to the hockey game—buy in.” Bleed Green : If you bleed green, you most likely buy in. (See how these all build on each other!) No, Deerfield students’ blood isn’t actually green—however, I wouldn’t be surprised if Peter Shea’s were. Verb Phrase – A remarkable exhibition of school spirit from a Deerfield student. Ex: “You see how rowdy he got when we scored? That kid definitely bleeds green.” Shriv (at the Riv) : A Deerfield tradition started in 2017 where every Friday morning (administration and weather-permitting) students venture into the depths of the Deerfield River. Noun – The shortened name of the Friday morning tradition “Shriv at the Riv.”  Ex: “Wanna go to Shriv tomorrow morning with me?” Verb – To swim in the Deerfield River.  Ex: “Wanna shriv after soccer practice?” Feed :  The highlight of many students’ time intervals between 9:45 and 10:15 PM. It’s always been a feed. It is a feed. It will always be a feed.  I ain’t never heard of a “snack.” Noun – Food given to students after curfew by proctors, hall residents, or hall associates. Ex: “I accidentally fell asleep at 9:00 PM and missed the feed. I’m so sad.” Well there you have it! Here is just a small sample of the myriad of terms unique to the Deerfield community. You are now ready to drop your new vocabulary in everyday conversations. Happy speaking!

Whether you’re in cowboy boots or a tuxedo, there is a Deerfield dance for you. Every year, Deerfield students dress up in a variety of outfits and students can be overwhelmed with this somewhat daunting task. However, do not fret, as we have a guide to surviving Deerfield’s most awaited dances. Starting the year off with chaos, we have a Blackout. Blackout is a dance where seniors wear white and all other grades wear black. Blackout, being the first dance of the year, has students exhibiting all types of emotions. However nervous, excited, or joyous you feel, head down to the squash courts for what could be the most painful mosh-pit of your life. Rumor hit the dance floor, leaving an intense flood of fear, when news broke that a student passed out. We may never know who that student was, but it only confirms Blackout’s vigorous experience.  Next up we have Disco. Get out your go-go boots, vibrantly colored clothing, and head to Kravis to be transported back to the 70’s. While the attire is 70’s inspired, students tend to take their personal flair. Some students find that the Kravis can make for an awkward dance environment as there is too much unoccupied space. So if you find yourself in the back of the Kravis, you may want to fight to get to the front or dance with your friends in the back. The mosh in the middle of the dance floor can be hot, sweaty, and scary, so make sure to take some time to breathe. Overall, a recurring theme when it comes to surviving a Deerfield dance is the necessity to take breaks and regroup before going back in.  With the arrival of fall scents and the spooky season, so does the halloween dance arrive. Coordinate with another dorm hall to create themed costumes. Some examples have been devils and eggs, gods and goddesses, or cowboys and cowgirls. Head to yet another dance held in the squash courts for a lively night. After hours of getting ready and learning how to swing dance, hustle through the winter cold to the warmth of the dining hall to celebrate Semi. Pull out your fancy dresses or blazer and tie for photos with everyone around the giant christmas tree. Afterwards students put their newly learned dance skills to the test on the dance floor while listening to the live band. If you are in need of a refreshment, take a look at the large array of food and desserts: cake pops, chocolate covered strawberries, brownies, cupcakes. If food isn’t what you are craving, get a cup of the popular slushies that end up getting all over the dance floor.  Gather your cowboy boots and flannels for Throw-Down! The country-themed dance in the Kravis, in which typically an underclassman girl asks an upperclassman boy or an upperclassman girl asks an underclass boy; although you don’t need a date to attend and have fun. The asks for this dance are filled with funny posters, dances, and numerous other creative methods. Oftentimes, the pair will meet up right before the event to take photos in their outfits, and then dance with their friends for the rest of the night. Throw-Down is one of the last non-formal dances of the school year, so everyone makes sure to have lots of fun. Next comes Junior Prom and Prom. Make sure to order your dresses and tuxes well in advance, so you don’t have the stress of last minute ordering. After the long hours of getting ready, advance to behind the MSB or in dorms to take pictures. After the extensive amount of photos taken, seniors head to the dining hall for the dance, and juniors head to the off-campus venue. Make sure to bring some comfy sneakers to dance in, unless you want to spend the whole night in heels. Even though attending a Deerfield dance may be scary, Deerfield dances continue to be an exciting Saturday night event, according to the student body, that never fails to bring the community together.