Despite their losses this week against Hotchkiss and Noble and Greenough School, Girls’ Varsity Field Hockey is not ready to give up. The team has had a rocky start, with losses against Tabor, Milton, and Deerfield. However, Head Coach Sam Fahey knows that the team will continue to grow throughout the season.

Whether in a water polo cap, at an ESSO event, sewing in the art studio, or on duty in the Amen common room, senior Shawna Jiang always has a smile on her face and radiates positivity throughout campus wherever she goes. Her effervescent energy is contagious when she’s around her friends and classmates, and even those she isn’t close with feel welcomed in Jiang’s presence.

In the backyard of Saltonstall House, students gather round, chatting, eating s’mores, and reliving memories. It is the final day of the Equitable Exeter Experience and International Students Orientation programs, and E3 attendees have gathered at Principal William Rawson’s house for one final event.

It was sunny on Wednesday afternoon as the Exeter Girls’ Varsity Soccer team took to the field to play their first game against Brooks School in North Andover. Exeter had previously scrimmaged with Brooks, and lost.

By: Jillian Cheng, Johanna Hillman, June Koh, William Shu, and Forrest Zeng

While some dorms are shiny and new — with laminate flooring, large desks attached to walls, and shower cubicles — others are musty and old — with bug infestations, suspiciously-colored tiles, and rusty fridges. While some dorms have discrete common rooms and kitchens filled with couches and tables to work or lounge at, others have singular common rooms so small that not even half the dorm is able to squeeze inside.

It begins at midnight on Nov. 1 when Mariah Carey posts her annual video, “It’s Time.” For the next two months, small businesses are bedecked with garlands and pine, every ad is set to the melody of softly ringing bells, and Starbucks changes its cups to a red and green holiday scheme. My email inbox and physical post box begin to fill up with advertisements and brochures letting me know that Christmas Is Here! and you can buy Cozy Fits for 20 percent Off.

On Saturday, Sept. 28The tension thickens the air as runners steady themselves at the white line etched in the grass. They fidget with their watches and whisper final words of encouragement to teammates. The field, vast and empty, waits in anticipation. With the sharp crack of the starting gun, the race begins. Leading the Big Red cross country girls are seniors and team captains Melani Dowling and Leta Griffith.

On Oct. 1, new Dean of Students Ashley Taylor hosted the Dean of Students Assembly, inviting student speakers onto the stage to speak about adjusting to campus life. The assembly also featured a handful of students who submitted shout-outs to other students before the assembly.

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, students and faculty gathered in the assembly hall for an eye-opening lecture on antisemitism by Professor Dara Horn, a scholar of Yiddish and Hebrew literature. Horn, a novelist, is the author of six books. Her most recent publication, People Love Dead Jews, won a 2021 National Jewish Book Award. Horn’s presentation explored Jewish history, culture, and tradition, capturing both the richness and pain of the Jewish experience. She also addressed the pertinent issue of antisemitism and clarified common misconceptions about Zionism. The book reflected on Horn’s experiences with antisemitism and Jewish history, from visiting the Chinese city of Harbin and reflecting on Jewish history’s commercialization in a city where almost every Jew has left or was expelled, to facing the task of explaining Shakespeare’s character of Shylock to her 10-year-old son.

Since becoming the President of the Student Council last spring, senior Cam Khater has focused his attention on planning events for the student body to enjoy. “Student Council hosted a food truck event last spring, which was a really big success,” Khater explained. “Looking forward, we are working on numerous events — Halloween festivities, EA, critically acclaimed boba events, all of which should be really fun.”

It’s Tuesday. The time on my phone reads 7:32 a.m. Just enough time to grab a quick breakfast before heading to my first class of the day. I walk into the dining hall and survey the food options. Being vegetarian, I know there won’t be much for me… but today, it seems like my options for a nutritional breakfast are scrambled eggs, a vegan “egg” and “cheese” sandwich with “sausage,” and… plain Greek yogurt. Scrambled eggs it is. They taste alright, and I guess it’s good that I can get some protein in… but I can’t help but think that there might be better breakfast options out there.

Most Exeter students have experienced it: the soul-crushing feeling of turning over a test or essay and seeing a grade that you didn’t expect, all after studying for hours on end or taking thousands of words in notes late at night, hunched over in the library. You thought you had pulled the stars into alignment… but when you took another look, they were way off. And you might have found yourself thinking, this is not good enough. I’m not good enough.

This past Monday, Exonians attended a “day on” of workshops, community service, and antiracist learning to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. MLK had an incredibly significant impact on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and is known for fighting for the civil rights of Black Americans and advocating non-violent methods of protest.

Dancers line the stage, their hips adorned with tinkling gold bells and coins. The music starts, and they begin to move rhythmically, in sync and perfectly in time with the beat. The students filling Assembly Hall watch in awe, captivated by the artistic talent and skill demonstrated by the Academy Bellydancing Society (ABS).

There are many famous authors, poets, and playwrights from all periods of time, from all countries and continents, and from all walks of life. However, there is one writer who is upheld as the peak of literature, the pinnacle of playwriting, and the epitome of what a writer should be.

Under the glittering stage lights of the Goel Center for Theater and Dance, students stand, singing, acting, or dancing their hearts out.