This Wednesday, Beyoncé brought us together. Dean Murphy pumped “Single Ladies” over the chapel’s speakers; Mrs. Chase shared her favorite Starbucks locale; and Mrs. Sykes let loose with a candid remark—“That was a stretch. You guys are pathetic,” when the Senior class burst into a chorus of “Oh nine!” at her mention of the optimal sleep quantity for calcium influx – nine and a quarter hours. We could relate to them. We were on the same page, even if we couldn’t quite clap in unison to Murphy’s musical selections. The school should be run in this spirit. In fact, we’re getting there. The administration has taken many steps in the right direction. Mr. Murphy’s weekly emails, Head’s Table in Commons and occasional classes held in teachers’ homes are all examples of times when we get outside of the classroom or deans’ offices, which may be intimidating to newcomers. So where else can we go from here? Face-time at All-School helps new students recognize the adults on campus and become comfortable approaching them, but it’s up to us to actually do the approaching. All-School isn’t the only forum for connection. It’s just the one we are all forced to sit through together. Unofficial interactions can be as important as official ones – dropping by an old teacher’s room to check in, speculating about Head of School Day with a house counselor at sign-in and staying after class to continue discussing current events all contribute as much to our sense of community as dutifully attending advising or ASM. Ideally, these unofficial interactions would inform our official ones — we wouldn’t be anonymous students to our interchangeable professors, but individuals. And we wouldn’t be an institution; we’d be a community.
