T O D A Y - Berwick Academy

18Eighth grade was themost defining year of my life.It was when I began to find myown identity and my place inthe class. The ethics class I tookwas first taught by Mr. Schneiderand then Mrs. Briggs. Inclass we were never given a listof what to do or told what wewere supposed to believe, butinstead we were asked to giveresponses on what we would doin an ethically challenging situationwith no right or wronganswer, and we were assessedsolely on the reasons as to whywe made each choice. The classwas not designed to give me apre-approved set of morals or tomake each student memorize what wasright and what was wrong. Instead, likeso many classes at Berwick, it taught ushow to think, using course material tosupplement the learning as opposed todriving it, and it allowed each studentto take the most he or she could out ofthe class. As a class we solidified andprepared, as Mr. Schneider’s once said,“to take the Upper School by storm.”According to the handbook,the Upper School focuses on independentthinking and self-expression.The Upper School presenteda rather threatening challenge. Itwas incredibly different from MiddleSchool with higher expectations,more work, a more demanding schedule,and a labyrinth of a building inwhich to get lost. I was expected toassimilate rapidly to the new way oflife. I had to learn that only a combinationof balance and hard work willresult in success. There was no wayaround it, and though every teacherwas supportive of anything a studentattempted, more and more of my timewas spent on school work. On the firstquiz I ever took in the Upper School,in Mr. Sullivan’s Western Civilizationclass, I received a solid 65. Althoughit was only week one of my Berwickhigh school career, it was a wake-upcall as to what was expected of me andthe amount of work I would have todo in order to deliver. Through hardwork and perseverance, I managed topull my quiz grades into the 90s by theend of the semester (Berwick had notyet transitioned to trimesters). Enteringthe high school was a shock, butwith the support of the teachers andan amazing group of friends, I made itthrough.Berwick Academy producesgood people: that is just what it does.Not everyone can be a straight “A” studentor a three-season varsity athlete orthe life of every party, yet Berwick triesto teach everyone to be a good person,a nice person, and a person who workshard. We are a tight community thatgreatly cares about each and every individual.I have seen many examples ofthis throughout my years at Berwick,and I can only hope that when I leave,I can find another community as caringand wonderful as Berwick Academy.I only have one more year atthe Academy, but I plan to make themost of it. I am pushing myself academically,running on the cross-countryteam, making costumes for theUpper School musical (next year LesMiserables) while still doing what I love:dancing. Even though I dance at a localdance academy and not at Berwick,I still receive support in my dancingfrom my teachers and peers. AlthoughBerwick has taught me so much alreadyand helped me find who I am,I am sure that it will teach me at leastone more thing before I depart to college.The end will be bittersweet, theexcitement of moving on to the nextadventure tempered by leaving behindone of the places dearest to my heart.Self Portrait “Uncovering”Shannon Farrell ‘12LessonsLearned:A Chance atHonor and IntegrityTwo weeks ago, I was hanging outwith my friends in Portsmouth and hadagreed with my mom to be home by11 even though she and my step-dadwere going to be out much later. Afew hours passed; it was midnight, andI had not begun the drive home. I hada few options available to me, the mostobvious being to beat them home andact as if I had been there since 11:00.Instead, I called my mom and told herI was going home as soon as I could.They appreciated my telling them butstill punished me accordingly. We allunderstand what it feels like to makea mistake, big or small, but what distinguishesus as individuals is the abilityto own that mistake and to makeit right. One of the invaluable lessonsyou learn as you get older is that fairnessand justice are not a guarantee inthis world, but honesty certainly setsyou on the right path.My story at Berwick Academybegan in the fall of 2009. Beingon the Boys Varsity Soccer Team, Ilearned there was a sense of responsibilitythat came with being a varsitystudent-athlete. Like many of you, Ihad seniors whom I looked up to as theby Chris RichardsClass of 2013ones I felt bestdemonstrated asense of honorandleadership.Before the seasonbegan, analumni and thencaptainEthanHawes ‘10 laid out the groundworkfor our year. There would be no majordisciplinary issues, we would arrive ontime to classes with shirts tucked in,and every day we would do our bestto uphold the standards of our school.In a game against Governor’s Academy,there was a controversial play inwhich one of their players shot the ballinto the side of the net, but the refereeinitially said it was a goal. We alllooked to Ethan for what to do. Withoututtering a single word of protest,he jogged with his head held high tothe center of the field where most ofus stood and told us that we were justgoing to have to work that much harderto get it back. That referee made amistake, but instead of berating himfor his fault, we did the best we couldto put ourselves in his situation and torespond with poise and class. Luckilyfor us, the referee realized his mistakeand the goal didn’t count; what didcount though was my first real lessonin integrity and honor from a BerwickAcademy student.I will never forget what Ethandid for us as the younger students onthe team, and there is nothing I wouldrather see more of in this communitythan that same kind of dignified leadership.In the hallways, with friends,and even off campus, we must beprepared to hold ourselves to higherstandards of integrity and honor evenwhen we know no one is watching. Itis the responsibility of the students notonly to uphold their character, but alsothe reputation of their family, theirclassmates, and the entirety of BerwickAcademy. In a community as close asours, everyone has a commitment tointegrity because, whether we recognizeit or not, we are on one team andall in this together.19