By Abbey Zhu ’18, Feature Editor

It’s the second day of school, and the halls of Newark Academy are brimming with people in dresses, skirts, dress pants, dress shirts, and ties. If you weren’t part of the Newark Academy community and you thought we were preppy, then this day definitely proves it. But why do we start the school year by dressing up? Why is this day called convocation? I asked Ms. Galvin, the current Dean of Students, who has been at Newark Academy for many years: “Convocation is an opportunity to bring a lot of constituents together. The groups that make up the NA community are not just faculty, students, and staff. It’s a time to recognize that there are almost 6,000 alums out there. We also don’t have a lot of ceremony here, so convocation is the one time to truly celebrate the faculty. We dress up to show them respect.”

Convocation, which means “to call people together for a large formal assembly” in Latin, brings the entire NA community together in celebration of a new school year, in celebration of the faculty, and in celebration of the rich history of our school. It is a tradition that stretches back hundreds of years and grounds our community during a time when things are typically hectic and in transition. As a school where teacher-student relationships are intimate and relaxed, convocation is also a time to formally thank the teachers for their service to Newark Academy and to acknowledge their achievements.

Additionally, bringing in alumni speakers of various ages exposes the Newark Academy to a multitude of perspectives. Last year, Jay Kislak gave a very nontraditional speech. When asked about what to expect from convocation this year, Simon Gorbaty ’19 said, “I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew the administration had to pick a better speaker that would also entertain the students.” And Newark Academy did just that. This year, Newark Academy welcomed Tim Hwang ’04 to deliver the main convocation address. A Harvard alumnus, Tim co-founded the “Awesome Foundation,” whose mission statement is “forwarding the interest of awesome in the universe, $1000 at a time.” Hwang was also named “The Busiest Man on the Internet” by Forbes magazine. Currently, Hwang works at Google and studies the intersection of law and technology. With such a diverse background of working and experimental experience, Hwang brought a multitude of perspectives to his engaging speech. Ultimately, he emphasized taking risks. He encouraged the NA community to think of unordinary ideas and to act on them rather than dismiss them as silly.

Hwang’s speech was well received by students. Alena Zhang ’18 said, “The speech was short and sweet. A lot of times, convocation speeches feel like the speaker is talking at us, but Mr. Hwang’s  speech felt more like he was talking to us.”

From “accidentally” visiting a nuclear plant to putting his face on t-shirts and distributing them throughout the Newark Academy middle school, Tim Hwang embodies his message to just be creative, to act on those weird ideas, and to just let things happen from there. In the upcoming school year, we should try to be like Tim and put aside our tendency to get overly stressed. Go with the flow. Whatever happens is meant to be.