At almost any other library, one would imagine the academic environment as a reserved intellectual harbor, a collective haven for students to hone in on their work and reach an optimal state of focus. In nearly every other circumstance, libraries are equated to silent reservoirs of studying, enforced by a constant need to keep one’s voice down. From the moment one usually walks through the door comes a shift in the atmosphere, of conversations softening, the mind preparing to sharpen for the day’s load of assignments. However, at the Borden Mace Library, many NCSSM students experience quite the opposite phenomenon.
Especially at the beginning of the year, many members of the junior population have fallen victim to finding the school’s arguably loudest landscape, expecting to find a familiar space for concentration. Of all places, the scene at the Borden Mace library has ironically turned more social than studious. But how did this come to be?
Through a spatial perspective, the NCSSM website states how “the Learning Commons design of our Library creates a warm environment for interaction, inspiration, and creativity with spaces designed specifically for individuals and groups,” emphasizing the school’s importance for students to foster relationships with one another to academically succeed. The library has incorporated many openly-spaced design elements for groups of students to work together in, whether that be the multiple yellow study rooms built along the left wall of the space, or the many circular tables, some of which are embedded within the not-so-soundproof glass lounges. By incorporating friendly architectural designs to bring people together, Borden Mace has allowed positive community building to prosper–though, often with its downsides.
Because the library has majorly devoted the working space for groups of people, a lot of students are naturally inclined to hang out with their friends, leading to an avoidance of accomplishing the objective at hand: Their assignments. As one junior complains how “all of my friends are there and I can’t lock in…there’s no quiet rule”, the social restrictions of the library–or lack thereof, have allowed noise levels to get extremely high without consequences. This has contributed to the development of an unbounded gregarious workspace with little to no “work” getting done. One senior notes how “a library is a social place, not a study place”, highlighting the reality for many other students how the design features of Borden Mace have strayed far from its original purpose.
However, the bustling scene at the library is not inherently bad for those who need to finish their work. One student states, “The library is a place to socialize and interact, but it has areas where you can lock in, like the little cubbies at the sides and the quiet rooms”, showing how while much of the area has been mapped out for groups of people to collaborate (or socialize), there are still individualistic spaces for students to meaningfully their work–one just has to make sure to not overlook them, and create real action in finding a spot with less social distractions.
While strife with socialization with its people-friendly architectural features, the Borden Mace Library has not necessarily become a doomed place for studying. The flexible grounds for academic collaboration do not automatically lead to collective loss of concentration among students, but could instead allow the enhancement of it as long as one takes initiative in how to approach their work, and where to mark the line between studying and socializing.
Every October, I tend to grab some stovetop popcorn, snuggle up in a warm comforter, and relish in the joy of watching my comfort show: “Gilmore Girls.” As a devout viewer of the 2000’s based show, I recently restarted Season 1 and watched up to Season 4 over Fall Break. Not only does “Gilmore Girls” hold and teach valuable lessons about resilience, perseverance, and hardship, but the more I watched the show, the more I realized how much it mirrored my own life at NCSSM.
Disclaimer: this article only discusses Seasons 1-4, which is what I felt was relevant to my experience as an NCSSM student.
Season 1
Season 1 starts by introducing the main characters in “Gilmore Girls”: Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. Lorelai, a 32-year-old at the time, had her daughter Rory at just sixteen years old. The clash between Lorelai and her parents, Emily and Richard, is seen early on in the season, as Lorelai goes to ask her parents for tuition money for Rory’s new acceptance into an elite private school, Chilton.
While I had watched “Gilmore Girls” several times, the imposter syndrome Rory experiences in Season 1 resonated with me in my latest rewatch. Coming from a large, mainly sports-oriented public high school, my experience at NCSSM so far has surfaced some of the same feelings Rory encounters in Season 1. With such talented students, Chilton and NCSSM create similar atmospheres. The self-doubt, self-criticism, and fear of failure are feelings both Rory and I have encountered at our new high schools.
Season 2
Season 2reveals the messy reality of adolescence for many individuals, as Jess arrives in town. Jess, a “bad boy,” toys at Rory’s heartstrings, as she struggles to grapple the balance with Dean, her boyfriend at the time, his distaste regarding Jess, and her blooming friendship with Jess. Season 2 reminds viewers of what it means to be a teenager; making a mess and trying to balance schoolwork, family, and friends, all while finding one’s identity.
While NCSSM students live on campus, we can share similar stories. Personally, learning to live and function at a new school while balancing keeping connections with friends and family back home has been daunting. However, after stepping on campus I soon came to realize the friendships, faculty, and staff make any heartache surrounding home worth it.
Season 3
Season 3 starts off on a good note. Rory is accepted into Harvard, Yale, and Princeton University. While there is some unrest in this season when Rory decides which college to commit to, the sheer amount of joy that Season 3 brings to the show is partly the reason I keep coming back to “Gilmore Girls” every October. Later, Rory graduates from Chilton as valedictorian and presents a heartwarming and emotional speech at her ceremony that even I teared up at. Rory truly becomes the pinnacle of a Chilton student here; somebody who is motivated, fierce, and a leader.
Every person I meet at NCSSM exemplifies those same qualities–driven, passionate and lively. Coming from a large high school, I found community in very few people. In contrast, the name itself of being an NCSSM student holds weight, and the pride I have felt to be at this school is unlike any other I have experienced before.
Season 4
To preface, I would like to write that when watching Season 4 for the first time, I was utterly disappointed. Season 4 is littered with Rory’s failures–from rekindling her relationship with her [now married] ex-boyfriend to struggling to navigate her new life in college. Season 4 serves as a sharp contrast to Season 3.
We’ve all heard it: failure is a part of life. However, based on my past month at NCSSM, I have noticed that the concept seems to be less prevalent in most students’ past lives. The last two months of being on campus have provided me with a multitude of obstacles; from managing difficult classes to deciding which extracurriculars to immerse myself into, NCSSM has been incredibly overwhelming. However, I soon realized that NCSSM is the place to fail; I will truly never have such a supportive environment to grow and learn from my mistakes.
“Gilmore Girls” is the show that raised my childhood. I began watching as a timid sixth grader, scared of the at-the-time unknown COVID-19. Following Rory’s educational journey through Chilton was inspiring as “Gilmore Girls” gave me somebody to look up to, even if they were fictional. For this reason, whenever I see the leaves turn orange and the air become crisp, I hope the little girl inside me feels proud as I click play on a new episode.
The lingering smell of sawdust in the air paired with the clattering of construction materials inside Hill House had filled my senses for the past three months. Every day, I walked past the building, my thoughts bubbling with curiosity about what lay inside the unfinished building. As my mind ran rampant with the possibilities held within Hill, I stumbled upon a theory greater than anything I had imagined.
October 16th. The day had been particularly draining–the PSAT along with the altered schedule had thrown the student body off, going from class to class while instructors tried to drain every 25 minutes they had with us dry for education. We were tired.
To give myself a break from the hustle and bustle of the day, I decided to give myself a short walk around the campus from the lovely comfort of the air-conditioned breezeways. Upon reaching the Greynolds tunnel to Watts, however, the air changed. The air was thin and it was alarmingly quiet. There was no ambient noise from the air-conditioning units and no scurrying of the rats in the wall. An absolute ear-deafening silence had been cast throughout that tunnel.
A peculiar thought entered my brain at that moment, and I couldn’t help but let that thought guide my actions as I took cautious steps forward. My footsteps felt light but they were the only things I could hear as I went deeper into the tunnel and pushed my hand against the unusually heavy door to Ground Watts.
The skull and cross-bones on the door to Hill Tunnel beckoned me forward and I was in no position to question its orders. The lights in Ground Watts were flickering, as if the power supply was running out. But that didn’t matter. Not when strange inhuman noises were bellowing from beyond the door to the Hill Tunnel.
Nobody had been in the area, or at least, no one was supposed to be in there; it was a restricted area and all the construction workers had been long gone.
Those noises only enthralled me further, and it felt like I had been walking for hours. Upon reaching my destination, a random Hill classroom, my eyes almost couldn’t believe what I had seen. Pods–hundreds of large humanoid pods molded in what appeared to be replicas of students who had been noticeably acting strange.
Upon further investigation, these were the same students who had let the stress of college applications get to them and fell victim to the curse of the “senior slump.” However, this was no ordinary slump. It was a disease that took over their minds rapidly and was somehow using their accumulated stress to produce an alien body double.
This is no satirical article. This is a call to action. Hill House is no construction zone. It is a housing unit for the aliens that have come to take over the minds of North Carolina’s best and brightest and if you’re not careful, you might be next…
This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Stentorian Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Stentorian editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.
Note to readers from the Editorial Board: If there are any discrepancies we missed in this story or additions you would like to make, please email us at stentoriansocials@gmail.com
Corrections on 10/27: Greg Powell informed us that he was not forced to resign by administration. Arts instructor Carrie Alter told us that our previous mention of “band-aid solutions” was done by administration in good faith, there is no other plan to move art classes to modular units, and the temperatures are inaccurate. Those descriptions have been removed from this editorial.
Prospective students and their families walk into Bryan lobby and read about some events in the history of the school since its transformation from the Watts Hospital: from the black-and-white photo of our three founders and the expansion of residential and online cohorts to Guinness World Records and opening Morganton.
Warmed up to the quiet vibe of Bryan lobby at noon, their top picks from the marketplace of Wikipedia-able information, and a deluge of selective marketing from the administration, they start their tours smiling–pleased to have arrived at such a pristine and well-established school. In other words, they had finally attained thinking in the way of the institution.
It helped that NCSSM’s public persona didn’t really open up their minds in the first place.
What the public don’t know are the health hazards arising from the aging and neglected campus infrastructure, which have been growing from years of deferred maintenance–a challenge made greater each day that NCSSM pushes back against calls to double down on maintenance, management, and budget needs from the students and employees who actually live here 24/7.
In a school where, according to ncssm.edu, “Igniting innovation, cultivating community” is the tongue-twisting slogan deserving the most attention and thought, it is no wonder that people dismiss superficial meanings as anything but professional institutional values–a way to dodge questions and concerns in acts of hypocrisy, censorship, and an obsession with temporary solutions.
To get a scope of the damage, we have constructed this narrative of words, emails, photos, videos, PDFs, and quotes to this article in hopes of readers grasping the severity and urgency of this issue.
Soft & Hard Censorship
On September 18, Carter Smith ‘25 published a post in the Parents of NCSSM Students (Past, Present, & Future) Facebook group, beginning with “Dear NCSSM Parents, Resident of Hunt have potentially been exposed to carbon monoxide, mold, fungi, and other toxic if not deadly chemicals,” followed by a redirecting to a YouTube channel (“Mech Anek”) containing video evidence of the stated health hazards.
When Stentorian staff spoke to Smith in a private conversation, Smith revealed he was originally going to wait to publish the post until after his meeting with the Associate Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Students Jennifer Ashe the next day. The belief that “people deserve to look at how messed up the data is for themselves” first outweighed that prerequisite.
“It is obviously not the parents’ responsibility to provide solutions to this issue; it is the administration’s job to ensure the safety of the students while they are at the school,” Smith said.
He told us he had been interested in getting to the bottom of the issue–literally, as Mech Anek’s videos show rusted-through flues leaking chemicals in Hunt’s underground and in-wall HVAC systems–since former 3rd East CC Greg Powell told Smith about concerning information on residential health and safety.
Since Powell joined NCSSM in March 2023, he had been increasingly voicing his concerns to the administration to fix Hunt’s frequent flooding issues, damp walls, and more. The Stentorian Editorial Board initiated multiple attempts to contact Powell for a private interview but we were unable to continue communicating after he resigned and moved off campus on September 22.
Former electrical worker by the alias of “Mech Anek” uploaded the videos he took of various electrical and moldy places above Watts, in Hunt, outdoors, etc. to his YouTube channel. Here are three descriptions of his videos. (YouTube)
Mech Anek had a similar story: behind the moniker was an unnamed mechanical worker contracted with the school through a third party maintenance company. He was fired in May 2024 by NCSSM for uploading the videos, the screenshots of three of his six YouTube videos provided in this article. One description reveals administration’s (“he,” referring to Vice Chancellor for Student Life and Chief Campus Officer of NCSSM-Durham, Terry Lynch) shocking response to the worker’s safety concerns of the live feed.
“…he harassed me over pathetic hearsay. He acted as if he didn’t understand what I was telling him about the potential of the students or employees getting hurt,” Mech Anek wrote under a video published on August 22 about NCSSM’s chiller.
Nine screenshots from Mech Anek’s YouTube channel, which includes six videos and five shorts – all of various places around NCSSM-Durham’s campus that are electrical and health hazards. (Mech Anek)
As another current maintenance employee (unnamed for safety reasons) described, Mech Anek was “telling too many truths and bruising too many egos.”
“We just want to know that the students are living in a safe environment,” Smith said. “When we see these videos online and take a look at the filtres, walls, mold, and environment that students are living in, it is not unreasonable for us to have some serious concerns.”
Hypocrisy & Denial
Four hours after Smith’s meeting with Ashe, all residential students, faculty, and parents received an email written by Lynch, sent by Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs and Chief Communications Officer Bryan Gilmer.
As we take a look at the email’s attached report from Terracon (above), there are several issues. Two of the biggest things to consider lie within the specificity and selectiveness of sampling. Firstly, in the Limitations section: “The scope of services was limited to mold sampling as directed by the client.” Who was the client? If the school wants to not be shut down because of mold issues, then it would make sense to direct the sampling elsewhere, in a blatant act of denial of the risk already growing. And where was the danger growing?
Secondly, in the Mold Result Summary Tables, Terracon (as directed by the “client”) tested the exterior of the art building. They did not test inside any rooms or bathrooms that may potentially have mold under tiles damaged by water or behind bubbling, peeling paint. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), mold may begin growing indoors when mold spored land on wet surfaces, and no mold grows without water or moisture. So why test for mold in the hallways and outside the buildings, when mold is prevalent where water is coming inside? Had Terracon and the client considered conducting visual assessments inside the buildings?
Students from the Research in Biology programs have conducted this black mold testing themselves, through a more traditional but all the while more visual means: swabbing surfaces throughout campus and growing colonies in agar petri dishes. Covering both female and male residence halls, air vents, and even bathroom faucets, they note notably high quantities of black mold in Hunt and Greynolds.
Mold growing in a petri dish with a sample taken from the opening of a Beall air vent. (Anna Tringale & Aretha Datta)(Skyler Qu)
“Essentially, from the petri dishes I’ve collected school-wide, I can confidently say that there is not a single residence hall on this campus that does not show notable quantities of mold,” said Anna Tringale ‘25. They are also one of seven Sustainability Project Leaders (SPLs) at NCSSM-Durham. “Still, it’s absolutely essential to remember that just because there is mold in a room, that doesn’t necessarily mean students are at severe risk of health impacts or sickness.”
Some mold seemed to grow inside the agar, which is something unheard of before to Aretha Datta ‘25. “Generally, when something grows on one of our agar plates, it grows on top of the agar. But this mold had somehow gotten inside the agar,” she said. “Up close, there were small vein-like structures as well. I’m honestly not really sure what this means, but I can tell that there is clearly mold in our room, and we should be concerned.”
The Stentorian also has firsthand experience and evidence of denial, or put differently, the lack of acceptance. On Friday, October 18, editor-in-chief Teresa Fang visited Lynch’s office and successfully scheduled an interview with him for the coming Monday, followed by an email confirmation that night. On Monday, no response from Lynch prompted her to send an email at noon with a list of six questions for him to answer via email. However, he responded as he was leaving the building that day, saying he would answer those by “tomorrow afternoon” as he didn’t have time to reply on Monday.
The response received from Lynch was not unexpected, but instead dismissive yet equally revealing. For starters, he did not attempt to answer any of the questions provided, but provided the same information he stated earlier in Gilmer’s September 18 email. The lack of a directional response compels the Editorial Board to conclude there is also a lack of direction in demonstrating improvement for students’ success and wellbeing, two important words in the NCSSM Strategic Plan 2024-2030.
The Stentorian also requested an interview with Ashe, but she declined to comment.
“Students still have every right to be concerned. It’s their life, it’s their room, and even small one-time exposures can get certain individuals sick,” Tringale added.
Obsessed With Temporary Solutions
By now, it is clear there are many open faucets and loose ends to this narrative. One way to enter this story is through the art studio’s wall collapsing into the interior over the Summer Research and Innovation Program (SRIP) in June, due to a rainstorm’s effects on the never-renovated-before Watts Hospital walls.
The hole in the wall of the green screen room in the art studio on June 27, 2024, revealing the original brick wall and the materials used to insulate the room of the century-old Watts Hospital. Formerly, the art studio was an operating room where doctors carried out surgeries. (Teresa Fang)
Likewise, the art studio’s predicament is also reflective of NCSSM’s current progress on campus “repairs”–if layers and layers of temporary solutions can be regarded as proper repair. Since last school year, the walls bleed water and white dust upon rain, human touch, or even small breezes, and one brick tile hangs precariously above the glass ceiling in the painting studio. When this school year started, rust was falling from an old gas hood and onto students’ workspaces in the advanced art studio. AR4110 Painting has already temporarily moved all their easels and paints to a meeting room in the library.
As we have learned in EN4610 Research in Humanities, displacement does not solve any deep-rooted problems. It can position vulnerable groups of people in even more vulnerable locations. We wonder, then, what kinds of discussions our peers, parents, and teachers would be willing to incorporate into our everyday lives, classes, and our ways of thinking. Until NCSSM can express views that genuinely respond to the concerns of those most impacted and invested in student success and wellbeing at NCSSM without the fear of negatively-impacting their public persona, we strongly disagree with the methods and language used by the administration to defer campus maintenance.
Today, students are acutely aware that whenever there is vapor arising from the metal manholes on the ground, it indicates that a major HVAC pipe is broken and leaking natural gas somewhere. (Teresa Fang)
If NCSSM is actually serious about addressing student success and wellbeing, it must demonstrate improvement in the largest concern of students, families, and faculty first: the school’s dilapidating campus. Until then, we worry that the future of our school will become nothing more than a moldy institution, more so than the 100-year-old Watts Hospital it used to be in the very beginning.
Johnathan Strickland ‘25 is in the midst of his senior cross-country season. Cross-country means more than just running for him.
“Cross-country isn’t just about the races. It’s about conversations with your best friend during Saturday long runs, feelings of accomplishment after a speed workout, and getting to explore this city we all now call home. I don’t love cross country because of the races, I love it because of the work it takes to get there,” he said.
Cross-country has enriched Strickland’s life in many unique ways, as its impact on him will last a lifetime.
From left to right: RBio students Rishi Saroya ’25, Yvonne Shih ’25, Saachi Arun ’25, Ava Cummings ’25, and Anneliese Heyder ’25. Anneliese Heyder
By Anneliese Heyder, Stentorian Editor-in-Chief
For the Research in Science (“RSci”) students, the last day of the Summer Research and Innovation Program (SRIP) has arrived. Students can be seen hanging up their lab coats, cleaning their goggles, and wiping down their workspaces where they’ve spent most of their days. Lab notebooks are out, students hunched over them while furiously scribbling final comments, details, and any data they’ve managed to collect in the last few hours before they head home.
For students in the Mentorship program, the last day isn’t for two more weeks.
SRIP, NCSSM’s flagship 3-5 week program provides students with one essential component to their research: time. During this period, students are allowed the time–from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day–to dive into their projects.
Once that clock hits 5 o’clock though, students are allowed to spend their free time however they wish: maybe walking down Ninth St. for dinner, going to the movie theatre at The Streets at Southpoint, or playing a game of badminton in the ETC courtyard. On the weekends, students can sign up for numerous events: a trip to Falls Lake, Target, or take the bus to the farmer’s markets in downtown Durham.
SRIP is comprised of multiple research groups and opportunities. You have the RScis (RBio, RPhys, and RChem) and RHum, RCompSci, REXCompSci, and Entreprenuership, which all occur here on the Durham campus. Mentorship, on the other hand, requires traveling to other colleges or universities and doing research in their labs. Both options have unique opportunities and experiences, allowing you to explore your curiosity and strengthen your research skills.
Erin Bienstock ‘25, recounts her daily SRIP routine at the Durham campus.“Students would leave school at 8 [a.m.] and since my mentor is at [North Carolina State University], I would get to the lab a little before 9 a.m.” Bienstock said. “My schedule was different every day but I spent a lot of time making new fabric designs in [Computer-aided design (CAD), 3D-printing the designs, and testing them in the wet lab. I also researched companies to get quotes for new products we could experiment with.” She would finish her work by 4 p.m. and return to school by 5 p.m.
RSci days were similar: they were long days in the lab, with students bustling around as they focused on their goals for the day.
Jonathan Charleston ‘25 recalls the busy days in the lab during RBio, including “morning sessions,” which involved a group discussion of goals for the day and “Starting out we had our morning sessions which involved getting started for the day, any protocols we need to look over. Then we had our after-lunch sessions, where we did the bulk of our work.” he said, adding that each day was “about 8 hours.”
Each research project is different; each student has their own goals, deadlines, and struggles. Bienstock’s research is funded by NASA; she explains how she’s formed great connections with other students in the lab. Charleston is focusing onmaking prostate cancer testing more accurate and accessible by using a paper-based assay. These two projects are vastly different, but they allow both students to satiate their curiosity and develop their skills.
While everyone is working independently, SRIP allows the bonds between students to grow and evolve. Old friendships are strengthened and new ones are born. SRIP offers a collaborative environment, where students and mentors can offer their insight, opinions, and help to each other to see everyone succeed.
Bienstock reiterates this by adding, “This has made it easier for me to speak up and contribute my own ideas to the project.”
When I asked her about advice for juniors applying to the program she said, “I would tell anyone applying to Mentorship to read research on the subject you think you want to find a mentor in. This will give you a good idea of what your experience might look like and you can write your essays about the papers that really inspired you.”
“I loved how personalized [research] is.” Charleston said. “My project is very personal to me, and being able to tailor it to exactly what I want to do is probably my favorite part.”
Falls Lake State Recreation Area in the fall. UNC Institute for the Environment.
By Anneliese Heyder, Stentorian Editor-in-Chief
In the first and final few months of the school year, NCSSM residents all battle an invincible foe: Heat and its sidekick Humidity. These adversaries use the same tactics each year to challenge students: wading through a swamp-like heat, frizzy hair, red faces, and sweat stains everywhere. Students can be seen holding mini fans, chugging from water bottles with melted ice and practically sprinting to Bryan lobby from Ninth St. where they can gulp in the air conditioning (AC).
Luckily, there is a solution to the relentless problem–one that many students don’t know about. Durham is home to several lakes, rivers, and quarries where students can escape the heat, hang out with friends, and release stress while enjoying nature.
Falls Lake is a 12,500-acre reservoir located in Durham. It offers up to seven different spots around the lake to swim, fish, kayak and enjoy other outdoor activities. Sandling Beach, a popular spot, offers a small beach access with plenty of room to swim, take a nap, or play a game of beach volleyball. Beaverdam and Rolling View also offer access to beaches and safe areas to swim.
Eno River State Parks boasts several hikes, some leading to small swimming holes and quarries. One is Bobbit’s Hole, a popular summer hangout spot for locals. The old-fashioned swimming hole is deep, so a float is recommended. The spot is perfect for a dip on a hot day, and on the weekends it can get busy. Bring durable shoes, as it’s about a 1.2-mile hike to the quarry.
I asked Matt Czar, ‘25 about his thoughts on swimming holes in Durham. Czar lives in Durham and recently made a trip to the Eno. “When choosing where to cool off you should always keep in mind the size of your group and time constraints,” stated Czar. “If you have more time, anywhere between an hour and 2 hours, I would recommend going to Bobbits Hole. It’s about a 15-minute walk to the swimming spot then you would have about 30 minutes to an hour of swimming time.” Czar also suggested going to Coon Rock which he states “provides the most options and is the most overall enjoyable place to swim.”
Connelly Martin ‘25 also expressed her encouragement for students to visit the Eno. She recommended “bringing a towel or something to sit on, something to float on, and a speaker.” Martin had recently taken a trip to the state park, and when asked her favorite part she said, “The weather and the chance to get away from school and relax. It was fun to hang out with friends and take a break from technology and stress.”
The Durham heat can be brutal, and sometimes the best thing to do is wear loose clothes, stay hydrated, and stick close to the AC. However, when you have the time to do so, planning a trip to one of these nearby swimming areas will allow you to cool down while making memories with friends and enjoying the beauty of nature.
The modular units, also known as “Univille.” Louisa Weinard.
By Mabel Kennedy, Stentorian Staff Writer
From supposed fox sightings, bigger rooms, and an overall change in NCSSM culture, the non-Hill residents of NCSSM have been consistently curious about the much-needed insights into modular life, aka UniVille. After the first Interhall Visit (IVIZ) of the year on September 6, an event allowing students to explore and visit friends in 1st Hill, many questions have been answered: this article presents itself to answer the remaining few.
As this year’s Convocation’s speaker Katharine Stewart ‘85 notably described, it seems as though every graduating class has some misshapen anecdote about their years at this school. Whether that be the COVID-19 lockdown or perhaps something more relatable as the past year’s storm at Convocation, or the present Hill renovations.
It’s important to note the luxuries of the new modular units (“modulars”), primarily the bigger rooms in comparison to the previous ones in Hill House and the apparently substantial walk-in closets. All this to say the modulars aren’t free from their downfalls.
When asked if they would rather live on Hunt, Andrew Hattle ‘26 reported the vibe of the resident buildings was better. “They have ping pong but our hall lounge only has a foosball table, a TV, and some chairs. Hardly anyone goes into the lounge. But in the [Hunt] building at least one person in the lounge, just chilling.”
I found this to be the case across the board, with an apparent lack of lounge activity present. Could this be the case because of the new round of juniors or rather the lack of the long-serving Hill House? Either might be the case, but the bottom line stands that the modulars are evidently a quiet hall to reside in. Notably, the faulty water heaters, spotty air conditioning systems, and distance from the center of campus give the modulars an equal playing field with the rest of the resident halls.
However, with the 1st Hill IVIZ now complete, many wonder if the tradition of “Haunted Hill” will continue. Or is this it?
We can still look forward to this classic NCSSM event, revealed by Khalil Murray-Azam ‘25, who said the tradition was “in the works,” contrary to the student’s general assumptions that this event would no longer be hosted in the now off-limits Hill House.
Will campus culture change after the relocation of Hill House to the modulars? Some interviewees said there wasn’t much change, while some said there was. Even so, the common conclusion is that the modulars aren’t the same. Obviously, this was going to be the case but with the lengthy distance to key points of campus, it becomes a more important annoyance to anybody in this situation.
Adriel Simeon ‘25 recalled that at Hill last year, “All you had to do was to walk outside and you can see everyone, and a lot of people went inside the lounge just to hang out.” But after the relocation between the soccer and baseball field, “it just wasn’t the same.”
Murray-Azam echoes these sentiments.“Now at Happy Half people go in right at 10 pm, when people would still live on Hill they’d stay out right until 10:05 pm,” he said.
All this to say Hill–or should I say, the modulars–regardless of their location will always have their ups and downs. Yet the school year has just begun, leaving much to be known.
It has been almost a month since becoming a junior at NCSSM. Over the course of four weeks, I adjusted to the unpredictable schedule of classes, with unfamiliar faces shifting into friends. To look back and feel as though the first week was ages ago registers as surreal.
Yet, I still remember the burning heat of the first Ice Cream Social, of learning and struggling to complete my first housekeeping task, and of feeling so overwhelmed. But for the first week, I was wrapped with positive affirmations by so many seniors that “it will all turn out okay” and the classic reassuring phrase, “You’ll get used to it.”
Enthusiasm flashed in the faces of seniors as they recounted the early days of their junior year, narrating their difficult experiences with newfound humor of the present. They backed up their experience by telling stories of the amazing friends they’d made over the years, of having fun at school clubs and performing at festivals. Every sentence of hardship they said was followed by, “I eventually got over it.”
“It,” to them, was now a small reference seniors made as they looked back in retrospect.
But to me, It is the overwhelming current of my reality, the pounding in my ears, the expanding hole in my stomach when trying to make sense of this new life. It means feeling unsure in almost every step, and hopelessly clinging onto the words of the students before you that everything will be fine.
The discomfort of being a junior needs to be talked about more–of feeling that you are doing everything wrong, of starting fresh and being so terrified about it. Of beginning a new high school journey and not knowing what to do with all the blank pages. The endless support from this community is something I appreciate; however, there needs to be more conversation about feeling lost. Of not glossing over the nuances when navigating junior year, but focusing on them.
When we talk about ourselves not in retrospect, but in the present, is when life becomes more real. Instead of discussing every time how adjusting to school life was “eventually solved,” why not expand the conversation to how we are “currently in progress?”
Life isn’t static–we’re constantly dealing with new problems, subtle moments emerging and revealing themselves every day.
To say that “at this moment, you don’t have everything figured out”–that’s what feels more reassuring. More relatable. Of maybe talking about how there are things we still haven’t fully adjusted to, or acknowledging that we are currently struggling with certain things.
When we open the door to feeling lost, that’s when we can begin to find our way into the world again.
With the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage, it seems as if it is on track to become a central part of how we live. The things that AI has been able to generate have ranged from answers to simple problems to realistic images and videos–proving itself to be a rather effective and engaging tool. However, many schools have begun to ban the use of AI in all schoolwork.
In my opinion, I believe that banning AI usage in schools is extremely counterproductive. It has been proven time and time again that simply banning something will not stop the problem, so how do we fix it? Simple! You remove the notion that AI is the problem altogether.
By vilifying AI usage in the school system, we restrict the possibilities that it could bring to education. When students are having issues comprehending a topic, they can ask for a breakdown of it and ask for practice questions. Not only can this tool build understanding, but it can also act as a good starting point for large projects with the finding of sources surrounding their topic or for brainstorming topics themselves.
With that being said, AI is not always the best for everything: it can make mistakes, give misinformation, or just be unable to help you with what you need. Even though AI itself is evolving and getting better, it does not prevent itself from making errors that need to be taken into account. Considering this, we also need to discuss the restrictions that need to be put into place to prevent students from abusing this tool. Requiring students to report their AI usage and/or the prompts they used may restrict students from using the system to cheat or plagiarize.
Although this will not remove the chance that students will cheat, it will allow for transparency between the teacher and student on the use of AI and let students see the benefits of AI for themselves as it is reflected in their schoolwork. To further combat the usage of AI to cheat, there have been websites and other AI tools that can check for AI usage. Taking the pros and the cons into account, I still firmly believe that despite the possible misuse or errors the program may bring, the use of AI is something that can benefit students if used correctly and responsibly.
