Zebra Tales
2019-20
Zoe '21
Hometown: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Groton activities: Circle Voice, peer counselor, Sustainability Committee, Groton Feminists, Diversity and Inclusion, Debating Society, varsity soccer, varsity crew
Most surprising when you first arrived at Groton: How fast you get to know the names of everyone on campus and how close you become with seniors and older students
Favorite classes: Chemistry and World History. While both of these classes were challenging at times, I really enjoyed being able to, in the case of chemistry, take control of my own learning, and in the case of World History, better understand the forces that shape the modern world.
Most memorable Groton moment: Last spring, when I was fortunate to be part of a crew team filled with amazing, strong, hilarious teammates. I enjoyed every practice, no matter how hard we worked. Every year, on the last Saturday of the season, there is an All–New England regatta, where all the top teams from the region compete against each other. This year, going into the race we were seeded lower than we felt we deserved, so in our first race, we put everything into it and managed to come out on top of the other teams in our heat and to make the grand finals. Coming off the water, we knew we had pulled a near-perfect race, and to be able to do it for the seniors who were leaving made it even better. In the grand finals, we came in fourth place overall, defying the expectations of the other teams and proving our strength as a boat. During those two races, and the whole season, we worked incredibly hard for each other. To get a result we were happy with was incredibly rewarding.
Favorite Dining Hall food: Chicken curry and samosas
Favorite place to study: In the winter, I like to study at the desks at the back of the library, where you can’t help but be productive, but when it’s nice outside I’ll take a blanket and study in the shade of the trees on the Circle.
List of 5 news stories.
-
A Groton Tradition
This past week I had the opportunity to participate in a classic Groton tradition: the Fifth Form rendition of “Blue Bottles.” The song commemorates the school’s age (135 this October) and closes out the annual birthday dinner. The dinner itself is an exciting occasion. The whole school filed into long tables in a gym decorated beyond recognition. After a particularly elaborate feast prepared by the Dining Hall (and the re-emergence of the best, reserved-for-special-occasions, bread rolls), the Sixth Form mounted the balcony around the top of the gym and demanded “Blue Bottles.”Read More -
Last-Minute Climate Strike
Friday, September 20 was the beginning of the global strike for climate organized and inspired by Greta Thunberg. As one of the heads of the Sustainability Committee, I had been helping brainstorm ideas for how Groton students could participate from the relative isolation of the Circle. Initially, we had planned to head into Boston to join in the larger march there. However, the logistics of busing any interested students out to Boston for the day, and navigating the missed class and commitments, proved challenging. We also wanted a way to include the whole community and bring the issue of the climate crisis directly to the campus.Read More -
New Year, Same Team
Read MoreWithout fail, one of the things I look forward to most returning to the Circle is soccer season. I’ve played soccer since I was in elementary school and it was one of the first groups that welcomed me when I arrived at Groton. Every soccer season starts the same way: with a week-long preseason before classes. This period of time is unique in that is devoid of any work or commitments outside of the team. It is a great opportunity to get to know some of the younger players and reconnect with friends after the summer. -
Another Summer, Another Week at Learning Outside
This summer, whenever I am in Chapel Hill, I’ve been working at a local day camp. It’s a camp I am very familiar with, having both attended it in elementary school and worked there for six weeks last summer. The camp itself is an interesting mix of activities, focusing on being in nature and creating art. Increasingly though, it has directed its attention to extending opportunity to disadvantaged members of the community. There are smaller camps reserved just for 12 kids referred from the elementary school by a social worker, and every week there are 5–10 refugees mostly from Myanmar, Jordan, and Syria.Read More -
The People You Meet
This summer I was lucky enough to participate in a Groton School trip to Botswana and South Africa. The trip was the culmination of two years of conversations between Groton students, Maru a Pula students from Gaborone, Botswana, and Imagine Scholars from Mpumalanga, South Africa. The trip proved to be, quite simply, incredible. After over 24 hours of travel, we arrived at the hotel in Gaborone, and, fighting jet lag, spent the evening learning names.Read More
