In the depths of the Phillips Hall sits a warmly lit English classroom, illuminated by a few incandescent standing lamps. It’s furnished with a small armchair in the back right corner. The place is spiffy-clean, centered around a neatly kept Harkness table. The walls, decorated with modern art, host a window in the back of the room that looks out at a white wall. On first impression, the room is welcoming, but that alone would be an injustice to the instructor to whom it belongs.

27 years after its proposal by the Student Council and adoption in 1997, the Academy’s Midterm Effort To Improve Class (METIC) system has much room for improvement. Members of the community agree that change is necessary, but it will require agreement on proposals to enhance it and powerful initiative. With family weekend, midterm grades, and chilly weather on students’ minds, METICs have become just another item on Exonians’ schedules during the midterm mark. However, the original purpose of the METIC as an opportunity for self-reflection and to give administration and faculty feedback on how students are doing in classes remains crucial and should be prioritized.

The town of Exeter, NH, closes at 8 p.m. If you don’t go out by then, you’ll be lucky to even enter a restaurant. It’s like living in a closed-off state. In Exeter, New Hampshire you are not affected by the rest of the world nor the affairs that concern it.

An electric show about a genius with a photographic memory navigating his way through the treacherous roads of New York corporate law, Suits captivated viewers from day one with its premise, wit, and characters.

With the advent of the spring season, many of Big Red’s teams — crew, lacrosse, softball, baseball, golf, and tennis — kicked off their season with exciting preseason trips. From early mornings of training to afternoon trips at Universal Studios, preseason aimed to prepare teams for their upcoming seasons both by improving their practical skills and strengthening team dynamics.

On Saturday, March 29, the girls’ varsity softball team went head-to-head in an exciting match against a challenging opponent, Choate Rosemary Hall. This was their first match of the season, a season starter for the preps and new members. The team fell short after a high-intensity match, scoring four runs but unable to match Choate’s five.

On Sunday, Mar. 30, at 7:49 p.m, an incident involving Silly Spray occurred on 10 Spring St, in close proximity to the PEA campus. The offenders, driving by in a passing vehicle, sprayed Silly String at pedestrian students and were then reported to the Exeter Police Department. Although only one case was reported to Phillips Exeter Academy Campus Safety and law enforcement, further investigation by The Exonian indicates that there were multiple accounts of this activity against PEA students on the same night. As an investigation is still underway, the exact details of the incident remain uncertain.

Sonder (n.) — the feeling one has on realizing that every other individual one sees has a life as full and real as one’s own, in which they are the central character and others, including oneself, have secondary or insignificant roles.

Phillips Exeter Academy, an institution for goody-goodys and Saints around the world, has an acclaimed faculty. They are some of the most educated high school teachers in the world, professionals, some may say, at their work. In fact, they are so professional, such experts, that they manage to effortlessly make our lives at this school infinitely harder with seemingly harmless acts. These acts are so harmless that they probably don’t even know that they are doing it. So we, The Exonian, present Annoying Things Exeter Teachers Do.

Pat-pat, pat-pat, pat-pat. An eternal rhythm echoes throughout the William B. Thompson Field House. It is music to a runner’s ears as the pack of athletes endures a challenge much greater than just physical strain — to perform is an obstacle of the mind. Their spikes strike the clay track with periodicity like a pendulum. This sport is an art.

Google defines the word nonchalant as an adjective, meaning to appear “casually calm and relaxed; not displaying anxiety, interest, or enthusiasm.” Apparently, to be nonchalant is to have no care. In a bittersweet way though, they’ve gotten it all wrong; what we often mistake as nonchalance is actually quite the opposite. To be nonchalant is very different than to be simply shy.

On Tuesday, Jan. 14, Phillips Exeter Academy’s Committee to Study Slavery and its Legacy presented on the assembly stage, showcasing a substantial selection of historical data, facts, and analysis. Their slideshow recounted the lives of the several enslaved peoples owned by John Phillips as well as significant milestones in the Academy’s history, including an account of the first black student to graduate from Phillips Exeter Academy. This week, The Exonian sought insight from members of the committee and students across campus for their thoughts on the assembly and the committee’s broader goals and missions.

On Saturday, Jan. 18, the varsity wrestling team participated in a competitive and exciting dual against The Hotchkiss School. Exeter wrestling has an overall record of eight wins and nine losses. After an impressive showing on Saturday, they ultimately fell short to Hotchkiss in a loss of 36-42.

It’s just you and your opponent. Both of you stand within the confines of these four walls, trapped not just physically but, more importantly, imprisoned mentally.

When people think about economics, they see a Wall Street trader hunched over a cluttered desk wearing a Patagonia vest and rolled-up sleeves. Three monitors sit in front of them with red and green numbers flashing, Outlook notifications ping, and, most importantly, money is being made.

On a brisk winter morning, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafts through downtown Exeter, mingling with the faint hum of passing cars and the chatter of pedestrians.

During Phillips Exeter Academy’s admissions process, prospective Exonians inevitably come across what is arguably the most essential document created by Exeter each year: the Courses of Instruction (COI), a repository of all Exeter courses being offered.

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, the varsity field hockey team put on a strong showing, with a 2-2 tie at Kimball Union Academy (KUA). Wednesday’s match was a great comeback from last week’s 2-5 loss to Brooks School, as they return to the form they had exhibited during their three-game winning streak earlier in the season.

When you came to this school, you were promised “lifelong friends.” You’ve been deceived.

If an Exonian were to open their phone today, they would be greeted by an onslaught of notifications from sources like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. In a world where children are spending an increasing amount of time online, Exonians use social media as their main mode of communication and socialization outside of real life. With posts and messages, friends can have quality time, even when they aren’t sitting right next to each other. These individual interactions aren’t the sole purpose of these apps though.

Clubs at Exeter are a critical part of extracurricular life, spanning a range of topics that seem to cater to everything a student could possibly be interested in. Students, especially new ones, can easily be overwhelmed by the amount of options, which is where Club Night comes in. An annual event near the beginning of the school year, every club in the school congregates with booths, decorations, candy, and other items, all to display their club to the rest of the school, recruiting new members as they pass.

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8:00 a.m. classes aren’t easy. They’re especially difficult in the middle of the winter, when your clothes are soaked with snow, dripping on the stairs as you trudge to the fourth floor of Phillips Hall. Yet, as students make their way into one classroom in particular, the smell of freshly baked banana bread wafts through the seams of the door. A warmly lit room welcomes them, the dark wood of the Harkness table cooling the mood. On the other end sits Instructor in Modern Languages Katherine “Kitty” Fair, her familiar face bringing an end to the shivers and fatigue of the morning. This year, Fair has announced her retirement from the Academy, leaving a bittersweet gap in the hearts of Exonians across campus.

Squash might seem like an individual sport. It’s just a player and their opponent, standing trapped within the confines of four walls. Yet, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The PEA boys’ and girls’ squash teams might function as singular players in matches, but they operate as a compact unit that marches together. Each of those 10 courts in the Fisher Squash Center contains four walls streaked with black residue and slicked with sweat. This sport takes blood, sweat, and tears, but they get through it together.

Wealth and wisdom—grace and glamor—bravery and beauty. Yet man, bar the bells and whistles, is only mortal. No matter how famous or rich, timid or poor, “the young and the old, and the low and the high, / Shall molder to dust, and together shall lie.” So when death is imminent, and our lives are insignificant—“Oh, why should the spirit of man be proud?”

When the Class of 2020 left Exeter for spring break in their senior year, they packed light with a few books, some clothes, and plans to enjoy their short vacation. No one expected that the goodbyes would be permanent. Not their teachers, not themselves, not even Principal Bill Rawson. They never came back.

On April 8, Phillips Exeter Academy and its Student Council announced a new and reformed version of the dress code that drops nearly all formal guidelines that were once standardized by the school administration. It entrusts students with the discretion to interpret what is appropriate and acceptable in any given scenario at school.

On Friday, Feb. 7, following the Student Council’s presidential debate, Phillips Exeter Academy’s 16th principal, Bill K. Rawson, walked onto the stage. The lingering chatter of faculty and students dissecting the heated moments of the debate faltered into uneasy silence. As shoulders stiffened and eyes tracked his every step, the school was held in anticipation — no one knew it yet, but everything was about to change.

Springtime at Exeter brings relief as the flowers bloom, the sky turns bluer, the days get longer, and summer streches closer. After a grueling school year, students can’t wait to pack their things, hop on their flights home, and enjoy the sunny beaches of their cities. One would think such a feeling would bring relaxation, but in typical Exeter fashion, the Academy can never get its mind off the future. With the annual course registration from April 17 to 21 this year, students have already begun thinking about next fall.

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