On and Off Campus, BB&N's weekly blog, features contributions by members of the BB&N community, including the student writing panel, current and past faculty, and alumni/ae.
We welcome BB&N community members to submit posts of 300-700 words for consideration. Longer submissions may be considered under exceptional circumstances. Please contact the editors for more details:
Kim Ablon Whitney '91
Director of Digital Engagement
Editor
kwhitney@bbns.org
+1.617.800.2731
Amie Margolis
Office of Advancement
Design & Layout
amargolis@bbns.org
Student Editors
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Over the last few months the reality that high school is coming to an end has begun to settle in. In just about six months I will be leaving behind my life of the past 18 years and starting anew. This idea has invoked many emotions for me: excitement to gain independence, nervousness to try something so drastically new, and sadness to leave behind my friends and family.
The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown curveballs at all parts of life that we formerly called normal. Our routines and daily lives have been flipped upside down and we’ve had to learn to adapt. There are upsides--no longer do I find myself sleep deprived or taking an occasional nap after school on Friday. But now that we’re finally used to our mask-wearing and hand-sanitizing lives, I have been reflecting on how the pandemic has had a huge negative impact on my social life--and the social life of my classmates.
Right when the words "snow day" processed through my mind, I got up to look out the window. I was preparing myself to see Boston transformed into a Winter Wonderland. However, it was not. As I stood there near the window only seeing grey clouds, I felt a familiar feeling--the sometimes disappointing crossroads of expectations of life versus reality.
Understanding Oedipus's elusive nature proved a challenge for me, as I had to embody a leader fallen from his prime. Although he may seem perpetually angry, yelling at his subjects in often unreasonable contexts, playing his character required moments of extreme vulnerability. Mr. MacDonald and the cast remained supportive and helped me explore the unknown, vacillating from rage and frustration to desperation.
As an avid language-lover, there was no better way to spend the Covid-era winter break than taking a deep dive into the world’s most simple and satisfyingly constructed language, Esperanto. Prepared for an unusual holiday at home, I decided to pursue this small but mighty tongue. Synthesized in the 1880s by Polish doctor L. L. Zamenhof, Esperanto was designed to be a vehicle for international communication, cross-cultural understanding, and world peace. This dedicated purpose attracted me to ‘Esperanto in 12 Days,’ a website dedicated to spreading the language and mission of Esperantists worldwide through its basic teaching exercises
