Hourglass Issue I 2022-23 Revised 10 14

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02 | EDITORIAL the hourglassDesign and graphics by Violet Paiva ‘23 and Cathy Wang ‘23 • Photos courtesy of Izzy Thompson ‘23 and Makenna Walko ‘23BALANCINGBALDWINThe key to making peace with your hectic scheduleIZZY THOMPSON ‘23MAKENNA WALKO ‘23Editors-in-ChiefIn her article, “The Cost of Excellence At TheBaldwin School,” Georgia Jane Whamond‘25 raises powerful questions about the consequencesof the busy lives Baldwin studentsface. As we enter the 2022-23 school year, with thetheme of joy as our guide, these questions have becomemore relevant than ever. Whamond’s article isan incisive deep dive into the demands put on Baldwinstudents, and the difficulty of juggling classes,extracurriculars, athletics, and social life. But itdoesn’t quite answer the question: how?There is no one single answer. But after fouryears in the Baldwin Upper School, we hope to offersome suggestions on how to tackle the challenging,incredible, life-defining experience that is highschool at Baldwin.Maintaining both academic excellence andmental stability requires immense “balance.” To us,balance means weighing your priorities and dividingyour time in a truly realistic way. Life gets busy,and suddenly you’ve spent all G-Block in a KIVAmeeting, your free period in the Writing Center editingan essay, you didn’t come home from socceruntil 7:00 pm, and you still have to wash the dishes–not to mention the homework looming overhead.To counter this, we suggest planning out yourtime to avoid becoming overwhelmed. If you havehours of work to do, take advantage of your free periodsduring school hours to get a head start. Uselunch and G-Block to catch up with your friends;that way, you won’t call them with a quick questionand end up on the phone for two hours. Moreover,if you know you’re crunched for time whenyou get home from school, that night is not the nightto spend hours on social media. Allot time for eachsubject of homework, and head to bed as soon asyou can.That’s another task that can seem more dauntingthan it should be: sleeping. Although eight hoursof sleep can feel unrealistic, that should still be theobjective. True, there are times when waking upat 6:30 am for your morning commute is a must,IZZYTHOMPSON ‘23MAKENNAWALKO ‘23and 10:30 pm can be an impossible bedtime. Butconsistently getting too little sleep can leave youdrained, take a toll on your mental health, and affectyour academic performance.Try to get your work done early, but knowwhen to draw the line and head to bed. If you findyourself stuck on that one math problem for hourson end, talking to your teacher about it tomorrowwill help you more than grappling with it until 1:00am.Be serious about your clubs. It’s amazing toclub-shop and explore what interests you, but onceyou’ve gotten a feel for what you like, decide on afew that you can actually commit to and stick withthem. Colleges like to see long-term engagement,and clubs are a lot more enjoyable when you cangive them your all, as we have to The Hourglassand Model Congress for four years.Throughout all this juggling, one major thingthat can be “lost along the way” is mental wellness.As Maddie Davis ‘23 highlights in her article “HowSafe is Safe2Say,” there are many resources to supportyou when sinking starts to feel easier thanswimming. However, staying positive and “doingokay” under such pressure can still feel exceedinglydifficult at times.Mental health is a tougher issue for us to address.What we can say is this: reach out.Verbalizing worries or concerns to friends,family, or trusted adults does help, and the Baldwincommunity is here to support you. Try to take a stepback when needed, and above all else, take care ofyourself. Sports, arts, and academics matter—butyou matter most.You only have four years at Baldwin, andsomeday, you will find yourself in our position: seniors,looking back at your time here. When youdo, make sure that your time was well spent—notworrying about how many ATs to take or how aclub will look on your college application, but appreciatingthe precious memories and connectionsthat truly make Baldwin “excellent.”October 2022Volume 61 Issue IMISSION STATEMENTThe Hourglass is The Baldwin UpperSchool’s newspaper dedicated topublishing student articles. Theviews expressed in The Hourglassdo not necessarily reflect thoseof the school or the editors.CORRECTIONSThe Hourglass aspires for its contentto be fair and correct, and regretswhen it is not. If you have questionsor comments about our coverage,contact the Editors-in-Chief atithompson@baldwinschool.org ormwalko@baldwinschool.org.HOURGLASSCONTENTAll content published in The Hourglass(including but not limited to articles, designs,graphics, photographs, and illustrations)are created by Baldwin students for theexclusive use of The Hourglass unlessotherwise indicated.SUPPORTThe Hourglass is made possible throughthe generosity of the Ruth S. Hochberger‘68 Hourglass Sustainability Fund. TheHourglass is affiliated with the ColumbiaScholastic Press Association.The Baldwin School701 Montgomery Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010EDITORS-IN-CHIEFIzzy Thompson ‘23Makenna Walko ‘23NEWS EDITORMarin Horwitz ‘24FEATURES EDITORLydia Snyder ‘23OPINION EDITORLauren Halak ‘24SPORTS EDITORAvani Shah-Lipman ‘25ARTS EDITORGrace Colucci ‘23BE SURE TO CHECK US OUT ATwww.hourglassnewspaper.comFOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM@hourglassnewspaperCREATIVE DIRECTORSCathy Wang ‘23Emily Zhang ‘23JUNIOR CREATIVEDIRECTORTrisha Yun ‘24LAYOUT EDITORGreyson Walko ‘25MEDIA DIRECTORSophia Ran ‘23PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORSophia Ran ‘23FACULTY ADVISORSDr. Daniel BenjaminMs. Janice Wilke
october 2022 NEWS | 03Struggling With Getting BackInto the Swing of Studying?Upperclassmen and Ms. Beirne share their advice after 3 years ofless-than-normal learningCARLEY TAYLOR ‘23Staff WriterAs we transition into a new schoolyear, one question plagues many students:How do I learn to study again?Our seniors, along with Baldwin’slearning specialist, Ms. Beirne, offertheir best advice to concerned students.During virtual learning, Ms. Beirne recalled the challengesmany students faced, saying, “While some studentsenjoyed the endless time to study, others struggled emotionallywith the lack of structure, making studying difficult.”Now the issue changes, as students worryabout returning to juggling both extracurricularsand schoolwork as they did before the pandemic.As far as basic study tips go, Ms. Beirne said thatit’s most important to use strategies that are active ratherthan passive. For example, instead of simply reviewingold notes, Ms. Beirne suggests redoing old homeworkbefore assessments or using notes to create a mock test.However, it’s important to remember that everyoneprocesses information differently, so exploring a varietyof methods is instrumental to successful study sessions.“The more strategies you try, the more likelyyou are to find what works for you,” Ms. Beirne said.Ms. Beirne also said that one of the most importantparts of learning is remembering to take care of yourself.While everyone wants good grades, sleep is justas important, and studies done by Harvard show thatthe material you study is best applied with proper rest.For students interested in exploring new methodsof learning, our seniors offer some useful suggestions.Penelope Furnas ‘23 said that one of her favorite waysto get work done is setting a timer for an “unrealistic time”to motivate her to finish faster. If history homework normallytakes you 45 minutes to complete, set a timer for 30 tomotivate you to move faster. Ms. Beirne supports studentsusing timers but added that it’s important to take a short activebreak in between the timed sessions. This might meanmoving around, having a snack, or spending time with a pet.Several seniors recommended prioritizing payingattention to what teachers actually say, as opposedto just writing down what they put on the board.Annabelle McDonald ‘23 said, “Sometimes teacherss a ythings in class that youwouldn’t be able to find on their Canvas pages.”Other seniors pointed out that it’s incrediblyimportant to spread study sessions out over a fewdays, to avoid anxious cramming the night before.Whether it’s finding the perfect music for yourstudy routine or completely rewriting your notes likeIzzy Thompson ‘23, the secret to learning varies fromperson to person. And while the rumor that blue penhelps memory is “definitely just a myth” accordingto Ms. Beirne, it’s important to remember that learningis a personal journey of trial and error for all.Videogames’ Impact onMental HealthCould video games represent the future of mental health treatment?NIKOLETTA KUVAEVA ‘25Staff WriterCan a video game help someonestruggling with depressionor other mental health issues?According to the WorldHealth Organization, there has beena 25% increase in anxiety and depressionworldwide since the start ofCOVID-19. The issue is more prevalentthan ever, calling for more creative andinnovative ways to approach treatment.Currently, psychiatrists have variouseffective methods to help treat thosestruggling with mental illness, includingtherapy and medication, but researchis always ongoing. Recently, a surprisingnew approach has become the focusof treatment research: video games.In the past, video games have been dismissedbecause previous research has shownthat they can expose children to violenceand lead to increased sedentary screen time.Baldwin’s new guidance counselor,Ms. Davis, said, “It felt intuitive to think[video games] had a negative impact onattention span and aggression,” but “playtherapy has been around for a very longtime, [and although] you usually think ofit more with board and card games, whycan’t this same concept go to videogames?”Studies from East Carolina University(ECU) have shown that puzzle games like“Bejeweled 2,” “Peggle,” and “BookwormAdventures” can significantly reducethe severity of depression and anxiety,leading to new interest in the treatment.Researchers from ECU asked studyparticipants to play these games regularlyover the course of a month for 30minutes at a time, and at the end of themonth, they screened the participantsfor depression using a questionnaire.Across the board, participants reporteddecreased depression and anxiety.Video games were originally createdto engage people. As Glenn Platt, a professorfrom Miami University, said in an articleon VeryWellMind, “A critical quality ofa game—what makes it a game—is that itis played voluntarily. Research has repeatedlyvalidated the importance of intrinsicmotivation for effective behavior change.”Ms. Davis said, “[Games] engagecritical thinking and problem-solvingskills that can actually have a lot of positiveeffects on mental health, like buildingcommunity, perseverance, and resilience.”In addition, video games provide atherapeutic distraction that allows usersto momentarily take their minds off theirworries. And, best of all, they are a lowcost,easily-accessible treatment option forthose who are deterred from seeking mentalhealth care because of potential costs.Video games are in no way a singularsolution to mental health issues, andthose who are struggling should alwaysspeak to a medical expert. However, it’spossible that video games could “disrupt[mental] healthcare,” and provide avaluable supplement to therapeutic sessionsand medical treatment in the future.Design and graphics by Cynthia Zhang ‘24
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Hourglass Issue I 2022-23 Revised 10 14

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