I cannot believe we are inside of five weeks to the end of the year! This year has literally flown by. I still feel like it was just yesterday I lugged my  bags into my white, empty room. Now my room is crammed full of photos, letters, every color imaginable… I have had a great first year, but I still can’t wait for next year, when everything will be totally familiar.

The trees are an especially vibrant green because of all the rain we’ve been getting. Luckily, today is cool and sunny, my favorite weather. We are in the process of electing a new school chair for next year. Sophomores are preparing their course selections for next year. Everything is winding down. There is a sense of excitement mixed with melancholy all around campus…

So… track season has commenced! At first, I had no idea what sport I would do for the rapidly approaching spring trimester. My plan to ride had fallen through due to a shortage of horses… I had never played any of the remaining sports, but I decided to give track a try.   Despite the hard workouts and all the aches and pains, I have grown to dearly love it. My favorite part is the jumping events. I never knew that jumping could be so fun! Anyway, my first meet is tomorrow and I could not be more excited. It just goes to show you, you have to run a mile in another person’s sneakers before you can judge anything… Until next time!

Wallace

Once a trimester, Thacher students are awarded a long-awaited break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Everyone pauses to take a breath and look around. Besides the gleeful anticipation, one of the best parts of the holiday is the announcement itself. This time around, the announcement came during a Head’s Invite. All of the students gathered in the Performing Arts Center to listen to a past Thacher headmaster talk about his new book, Blue Heaven. During the question and answer session, someone in the audience stood up and commented that the Thacher students looked tired and stressed. He suggested a holiday! It was obviously planned, but very funny anyway! So, we got our day off. Holidays are good times to go into Ojai, read a book, or spend time with friends. Anyway, I had a very relaxing day and was very GRATEFUL for the holiday myself.

Being new to a place, especially in a tight-knit community, can be difficult. No matter where you are, it just takes time. Time to get used to the new place, time to make friends, time to simply adjust. But, after a certain amount of time has passed, you feel comfortable and at home. This makes every little struggle completely worth it, especially when the new community is as special and welcoming as Thacher! It’s the simple, every-day things that constantly remind me of what a wonderful community I have joined: walking down to breakfast with a friend, celebrating a birthday with a munch-out, watching a documentary with a prefect on a lazy Sunday afternoon… It is all these things that make our Thacher community so delightful.

As the weather gets colder and the holiday season starts to approach, a certain excitement seems to be in the air. This may be partially due to the fact that this past week at assembly, the Indoor Committee announced the upcoming dance- Winter Formal. Each boy is assigned  date and he must ask his date to the dance in as creative a way as possible, and he must do it… in public. As you can imagine, there have been some pretty creative invitations already. It is so fun to hear the stories of each proposal, ranging from romantic to downright hilarious!!