Every other Monday, the Town of Exeter Select Board meets in the Town Offices on Front Street, across the intersection from the gazebo, and discusses matters important to the local community.

On a sunny Friday, 80 members of the General Alumni Association Directors and other alumni class leaders returned to Exeter for Exeter Leadership Weekend. During this time, they learned more about what makes the current Exeter community special and what the administration’s plans were for the future.

On Sept. 13, new Exonians packed Love Gym, perusing Exeter’s many clubs while returning co-heads introduced their clubs. Piles of candy and trophies covered club booths. The gym echoed with tunes from Exeter Association of Rock and even bagpipes. Our fellow Exonians reflected on this day, full of new opportunities and interests, embedding first club meetings in their schedules.

On the beach, Jennifer Smith bends toward the sand, her fingers brushing through damp, salty pebbles until they close around a shard of sea glass. “I feel so centered and most myself when I’m on a beach and looking for sea glass,” she said.

Every Exonian has experienced laying their head into their pillow, dreading the 7 a.m. wake up ahead after a long night of studying. They’re not sure that their body has the energy to get through another five classes the next day, and just need a break. Then, their eyes fly open. They grab their phone, and turn off the alarm. They don’t have a reserve format tomorrow — their history class isn’t meeting.

Kindness, cookies and travel: three words that could very well be used to describe Instructor of Health Brandon Thomas. With his return to campus following a spring sabbatical in which he traveled the world, Thomas came back with many experiences and lessons to share.

Speaking confidently out into Phillips Church, the nave illuminated by brilliant sunshine, Aveen Burney delivered a meditation that masterfully weaved the life story of her maternal grandparents, Nanno and Nanna, with a reflection on her evolving identity over her four years at Exeter. Titled “It’s not so much a departure as a return,” her meditation was the natural distillation of over four years’ worth of growth—a forty-page document of ideas she had been curating since prep fall, condensed into a single, powerful moment shared with the Exeter community on April 23.

The Asian Magazine is one of the many unique publications at Exeter, showcasing advanced creative work from students with Asian backgrounds. The club held a joint meeting with Asian Voices on Feb. 7 to celebrate their latest publication from last spring, “Rebirth & Regrowth,” with catered Asian food and to start preparations for their next magazine issue. The event brought together club members, artists, and writers to discuss the creative process behind the magazine and highlight the importance of this platform for Asian students at Exeter as a community and artistic space for Asian students at PEA.

On Monday, Feb. 10, the Academy community was rewarded with a well-deserved and highly anticipated Winter Thaw. Acting as a rest day in the middle of the long winter term, Winter Thaw allowed students and faculty alike to relax and revive themselves both physically and mentally. Taking inspiration from Exeter’s history, the 2024-2025 Student Council Board reinstated the day off. Students participated in many activities, from a weekend in Boston to sleeping and catching up on homework.

Deep within the Academy Building on Friday night, senior Jacques Pierre Leleux marches into the Latin Study with a toga and golden wreath atop his hair. He owns the room; eyes turn as he artfully diagrams the Battle of Actium with simplicity yet accuracy. As Leleux performs the secen fo battle with unrivaled vigor, his fellow club members rave with enthrallment. An accomplished two-year senior, Jacques is known across campus for his leadership in theater, classics, history, and—most of all—his conquering smile. Throughout his life, Leleux has also conquered many territories. “I’m kind of from all over,” Leleux said. “I was born in London, and since then I’ve lived in New Orleans, Alexandria, Richmond, Utah, North Carolina, and now New Hampshire for Exeter. Moving around a lot has given me a flavor of a lot of different places. I have a lot of friends from many different areas, but my deep, long-term connections lie really with my family.”

Being lonely at Exeter strikes some as paradoxical, with many prospective students worrying that the campus is “too big” with “too many people.” However, I—Ricardo Osei-Addae—one of the co-writers, first experienced loneliness upon my arrival to campus, and if not for the ISO leaders such as Miyu Nakamura, Meira Wohl, and Janibek Subkhanberdin who stepped in, I would not have found the confidence to be the social butterfly I am now. Exeter is renowned for its academic rigor and tradition of independence, but these very aspects may be amplifying the sense of isolation. Has this loneliness worsened since the pandemic, and how do the academy’s practices contribute to it?

For many international students, the many feelings before coming to Exeter are full of apprehension and excitement. The difficulties of being countries, or even continents, away from your parents, cultural differences, and language barriers are what the International Students Orientation (ISO) hopes to help mitigate. The program allows students from similar experiences to meet, bond, and learn together. More than a month after the orientation program, the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) has invited these students to a reunion.

As students arrive on campus for their final term of the year, the campus has changed remarkably since the winter term: green grassy lawns, all the snow disappearing from the roofs, and the sun setting after 5 p.m. Exonians come into the spring term with new academic goals, fresh study schedules, and a profound inspiration to excel. While the flowers haven’t yet bloomed and the weather is still in the 40s, students reflect on their fifteen-day spring break and the transition to the start of the new term.

On certain mornings and afternoons, a long, skinny red boat can be spotted through the often hazy fog above Exeter’s Squamscott River. The boat seems to glide gracefully over the surface of the rippling river, and the rowers propelling it lean back and forth in elegant unison. On the boat, a series of panting and grunts accompany each pull of the oar. The eight rowers seem to fight for their lives on the water, and at the stern of the boat sits senior Rohit Kantamneni.

Returning from winter break, uppers are officially beginning their college counseling processes, the start of their college application journeys. The classes of 2025 and 2026 have a variety of feelings regarding both the application and college counseling processes.

On Jan. 20, 2025, at 12 p.m. EST, President Donald Trump, alongside his running mate Vice President J.D. Vance, was inaugurated as the forty-seventh president in the rotunda of the United States Capitol.

On a quiet Sunday afternoon, Room 214 in the Phelps Science Center hums with anticipation as budding and seasoned chemists gathered for a golden spectacle.

Every year, for a weekend in September, campus teems with the life of its current, and past generations. Often seen through classroom doors and walking the paths, alumni return to campus not just to reminisce on their time at the Academy and reflect on all its change, but also for an important mission: Exeter Leadership Weekend. This year, it was held on the weekend of Sept. 20.

Speaking confidently out into Phillips Church, the nave illuminated by brilliant sunshine, Aveen Burney delivered a meditation that masterfully weaved the life story of her maternal grandparents, Nanno and Nanna, with a reflection on her evolving identity over her four years at Exeter. Titled “It’s not so much a departure as a return,” her meditation was the natural distillation of over four years’ worth of growth.