After a brisk winter full of Netflix, Domino’s Pizza, and unexpected snowstorms, Choate faculty and students are gladly welcoming the warm weather of spring term. Having emerged out of hibernation, the Choate community is once again bustling as people begin to take advantage of Choate’s blossoming campus, breathing in a new air of refreshed optimism. A host of Choate faculty and students shared with me their opinions on spring and their plans for the final term of the year.
Esther Clayton ’16 shared wise insights on the different seasons at Choate, which she has gained after living on campus for four years. Clayton characterized the fall term as the “giddy” term, in which everyone is excited to see his or her friends after a long summer. She noted that the anticipation begins to wear off after the reality of the copious amounts of schoolwork ahead sets in. However, the term soon rolls by. Winter term is notoriously unpleasant and stressful, with less than desirable weather taking a toll on students’ mood and motivation to do work. However, spring term eventually arrives, a welcome “light at the end of the tunnel.” Clayton hypothesized that the warm weather allows for shorts to reenter students’ wardrobes and for motivation to reenter students’ lightened mindsets.
Both Ariel Zhang ’18 and Mirialie De Jesus ’18 enthusiastically agreed that spring term is their favorite term. Zhang looks forward to sailing the most, which motivates her to push through to the end of the year. However, Zhang’s love for sailing is slightly dampened by her dread for spring term finals, which are usually cover three terms worth of material. De Jesus is excited for the warm weather — for now. By the end of May, temperatures become so high that she “cannot even breathe” in her stuffy room. She also finds it hard to stay focused on schoolwork because the weather reminds her of summer.
From a faculty member’s viewpoint, Ms. Judi Williams spends spring term coaching girls’ JV lacrosse and enjoying the increase in daylight hours. Ms. Williams is also excited for her two new courses: Global Contemporary Issues and The Black Experience in America. Respectively, she looks forward to the opportunity to teach younger students and to present another facet of United States history. However, she is sad that seniors will graduate soon, since she has many close relationships with students in the sixth form.
Mr. Zachary Kafoglis, a first-year teacher at Choate, expressed a wholeheartedly enthusiastic view of his upcoming spring term. He looks forward to the academic and social implications of the new term for the Choate community, and sees the spring as “an opportune time to build on a lot of the learning that has occurred over the previous two terms.” Having heard quite a bit about spring traditions, he is excited to see for himself what all the “hype” is about. Mr. Kafoglis is not teaching any new classes but has a few new students, who add a new spark to his classes. However, he also appreciates the opportunity to maintain the same core group of students, as he has enjoyed getting to know them throughout the year.
Evidently, the overwhelming stance by both Choate faculty and students is that spring term is the warmest and most vibrant term at Choate. Of course, it is not without challenges: Thoughts of the rapidly approaching summer are accompanied by uncomfortably hot temperatures in dorm rooms, loss of motivation, and the end of the seniors’ Choate career. Until then — enjoy.
