A Busy Week

Hey everyone!

This past week was pretty busy for me, even though it was Wellness Week. Wellness Week is an annual event during which students in all grades go to seminars about “wellness,” meaning everything from drugs and alcohol to eating disorders. In exchange, we get one to two classes off per day. It was a welcome change from last week, which was midterms, when it seemed like something major was going on in all my classes.

As a Lower, I went to two grade-wide seminars and one extra one that I chose from a list. They were all pretty interesting, but my favorite was the one I chose, the Psychology of Happiness. Shawn Achor, a psychology professor at Harvard, basically told us the secret to being happy. He showed us how positive thinking can lead to happiness and success. He was a dynamic speaker, and his presentation was really interesting. I won’t lie; it was nice to get a couple class periods free every day as well.

At All-School Meeting on Wednesday, we had another cool guest speaker, Dr. James Maas, who talked about the science of sleep. He said that in order to function at our peak, teenagers need 9.25 hours of sleep every night! I think everybody’s favorite part of the presentation was when Dr. Maas said he doesn’t think classes anywhere should start earlier than 9:00 AM.

I finished up a great week with a great weekend. This year, Wellness Week coincided with Andover/Exeter Weekend. PA has a pretty intense rivalry with Phillips Exeter Academy, and every sports season we have one big day where all our major varsity sports teams play each other. All the fans dress up in their school colors (blue and white for Andover students, red and white for “Exies”) and cheer for their classmates. By the end of the day, I’d completely lost my voice from cheering so loud, but it was totally worth it.

In the evening, there’s a Sadie Hawkins dance, a semi-formal where the girls ask the guys to the dance instead of the other way around. My friends and I had A LOT of fun getting ready before everyone’s date showed up. The proceeds from the tickets go to charity, and everyone gets dressed up and has a great time.