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Category Archives: Season 3
Festina Lente: Reflections on Teaching and Gardening
By Heather Harwood, Classics Faculty
Festina Lente: Reflections on Teaching and Gardening
This past spring and summer, I was once again actively involved in the St. Mark’s Community Garden Project. With the help of five students last spring and with the committed labor of several St. Mark’s faculty during the summer, the garden continued to expand and flourish into its fourth season. It provided all of us who participated with an abundance of delicious and nutritious food and was a quiet, reflective refuge where I could escape any given sunny morning to harvest my thoughts about the past school year and think about the upcoming one. (more…)
Like a Rock Star
By Charlie Sellers, Head of the Modern Languages Department
Like a Rock Star
I had a very busy summer vacation. It was also a phenomenal summer full of adventure and self-
discovery. A day after finishing my end of the year duties at St. Mark’s –advisee letters, grades, comments, and faculty meetings– I left for China with 10 St. Markers and our former Chinese teacher, Showjean Wu. After two weeks in Beijing at our partner school, I was back in the States. My wife and I were moving from the house across from the thirds’ soccer field to a bigger house at the end of the thirds’ soccer field, and I needed to pack. My wife, Michaela, was busy finishing up classes and end of the year events –she teaches 5th grade at a public school in Sharon, Massachusetts– and we had another big adventure planned for the day after she finished classes. We were about to embark on an 800-kilometer (about 500-miles, a little longer than the distance from (more…)
Overcoming the Challenges of an Introverted Entrepreneur
By Abi Smith, VI Form
My heart thumped as I walked onto the stage in front of thousands of people at the White Privilege 
Conference (WPC) in Seattle. I was one of four students from St. Mark’s School selected to attend the conference; WPC examines concepts of privilege and oppression and works to promote a more equitable world.
“Break a leg,” I whispered to myself as I maneuvered my way to the front of the stage. As I stepped toward the microphone, my foot became tangled in the wire. I stepped backwards, which unfortunately made the problem worse. (more…)
The Pain Cave
By Ryan Haarstick, VI Form
“Last five-hundred! We are three seats behind. Power ten. Here we go!
One.two.three.four,” barks the coxswain from the bow of the boat.
I need to make sure my pulling is hard. I am exhausted. I must clear my mind, stop thinking, and keep my eyes in the boat. My shins are paralyzed; I cannot lift my feet. I have to push through it.
Since ninth grade, I have been rowing with the St. Mark’s Varsity Crew Team, working my way from the fourth boat to the second boat, and finally to the first boat. Now is not the time to give up. I took my teammate Alex’s seat at the top, and as the youngest member in my boat I have to prove myself. I focus on (more…)
Fighting To Get My Life Back
By Brendan Dawson, VI Form
Cancer tried to defeat me, but I fought back. In the summer of 2011 I became thyroid cancer’s latest victim at the young age of 14. I experienced a wide variety of emotions throughout the next year. An enthusiastic, confident, active eighth grader vanished, and a mortified, timid ninth grader emerged. My uncertain future was now in the hands of the various doctors at Children’s Hospital in Boston. Life as I once knew it had abruptly ended, and I fought the challenge of a lifetime to win it back. (more…)
Sharing the Faith: Religion and Science
By Julie Geng, VI Form
For many, science and religion are mutually exclusive since science — reliant on the scientific method — can find no proof for Deity. Others think that these two forces coexist without influencing each other. As both a passionate young chemist and a faithful Christian, I have reconciled for myself the purported dichotomy between scientific endeavor and religious awe through understanding their shared element of faith. (more…)
Michael’s Past, Building My Future
By Brittany Andrea, VI Form
I found myself sitting in yet another doctor’s office, surrounded by white walls. Illuminating the bleak room was a large window and a fluorescent light in the ceiling. My brother’s doctor spoke in a monotonous, fluid voice. Listening to the concepts he described were confusing, amazing, and yet captivating. It was in this moment that I was struck with a passion.
My brother Michael has seen the inside of medical offices all of his life. I typically went with him, my sister, and my mom. He was always different from other kids his age; he learned sign language because he wouldn’t talk until he was four. (more…)
A Math Enthusiast
By Ryan Lee, VI Form
This past summer, I made a set of business cards in preparation for the International Congress of Mathematicians convention, where I hoped to meet world-renowned mathematicians. My card reads “Seung Jae “Ryan” Lee, Math Enthusiast.” The night before the opening ceremony, I couldn’t sleep. I was too excited about the prospect of sitting in actual lectures given by the scholars whom I had only read about and to witness this year’s Fields Medal Award Ceremony in person. I am not exaggerating when I claim to be a math enthusiast. I call myself a math enthusiast (though my friends find my choice of words rather amusing) because no other title better encapsulates my passion for mathematics. I was not always like this (more…)
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