By Ashley Ulrich ’11, Former Editor-in-Chief

I remember when I toured Newark Academy half a lifetime ago, looking forward to applying for sixth grade.  My excitement beamed through the phone, when the night before I received a call from my host, whom I berated with all sorts of questions:  What is Humanities?  There isn’t a gym uniform?  What do you wear to school?  Really, no jeans at all?  There’s a separate class for band?  What do you mean you’re friends with teachers?

If that was a confusing evening, the next morning was quite beyond comprehension.  First period I walked into World History, where the desks were curiously arranged in a circle, and for half the class Mr. Mohammed taught us a new drum African rhythm to play.  In Honors Math, the students joked with the teacher, calling her by her last name, all eager to participate in class.  In band, the students arrived prepared and played beautifully.

Yet what mystified me the most was lunch time.

This was before the era of the fifteen-minute rule, back when five hundred students rushed en masse to the two winding cafeteria lines.  The lunch room was a roar of activity, a bustle of trays, plates, and cups, shimmering and alive with energy.  It was a strange, wild beast.  There were no teachers’ aids in charge, shushing the kids.  There were no rules about how many people were to fit at a table.  Teachers ate at the same time as students, in the same room, even intermixed at tables, speaking to students like friends.  This was a community, vibrant and whole, completely unlike the rigid public school system I was used to.

When I finished touring for the day, I begged my parents to let me apply to this strange organism called Newark Academy.  I was excited and energized after seeing the school, and in the seven years since much of that enthusiasm has failed to ebb or fade away. In hindsight, that tender ten-year-old made a wonderful decision that would prove to shape not only my skills and knowledge, but would mold my outlook on the world and education.  I could not be more thankful for the results.

Not to over-simplify my experience or the experiences of many others, Newark Academy is a hard school to attend.  We’re an extremely competitive, self-driven, busy bunch, usually running between activities and stressing about the smaller nuances of the difference between an A- and B+ instead of perhaps stepping back to enjoy the middle school and high school experiences as they pass us by.  Maybe it’s a bit sad, but I’d like to think the wrinkles come out in the wash.  Overall, we do a pretty good job about balancing friends, school, family, extra-curriculars, etc., except for when we don’t – around exam time when the school feels a bit like a sloppy over-embellished Hollywood special effects sequence from 2012.

I hope however that in seven years of experience, I might impart some general suggestions for other students, whether doe-eyed sixth graders or anxious juniors. (Sorry, not quite seniors – you haven’t filled out the Common App yet guys.  No worries though, it will hit you soon enough.)

My Top Ten of Advice and General Commentary to About the NA Experience:

1.  Don’t leave your (middle school) projects until the night before they are due.

Why?  Because something always goes wrong.  This is applicable for the ninth grade scrap book as well, because similar to the juniors, you’re not quite freshman until you’ve completed the scrap book.  Procrastination only sounds cool – it really isn’t that great to still have a glue stick out, papers in disarray, and a poster board bleakly blank leaned against your desk as the clock strikes one, two, three a.m. in the morning.  Really, save yourself the anxiety, and start ahead of time.  That way, when the cake for your cell project doesn’t rise, you’ll have time to bake another one.  When your brother steps on the Styrofoam heart for your circulatory system project, you can buy another one.  When you construct an Aztec calendar for your spanish project instead of a Mayan one, you’ll have time to start over.  It sounds silly until it happens to you.

If you’re already a culprit – try starting early for once, and you’ll be surprised how much stress you avoid!  Even some small initial planning can really help.  Just ask anyone who tried to finish his or her extended essay last minute.

2.  Don’t flaunt your grades with your classmates, good or bad.

This really does transcend grade levels – it’s silly.  It causes so much undue anxiety, and really only serves to make people annoyed or upset.  If you don’t do well, speak with the teacher about it.  Don’t go around hoping to find the poor sucker with a worse grade, so you can hold yourself up and say, “well at least I’m not so-and-so.”  Likewise, you don’t need the affirmation that you set the curve if you have done extremely well on an exam.  Your reward is the good grade already on the paper.  If you really are that talented in a subject – help someone who is struggling instead!

3.  Don’t be afraid of upperclassmen.

Oops.  Did I just write that?  It’s true though – the seniors aren’t held up on any magical pedestal, and neither are the eighth graders.  Don’t be afraid to join clubs, go out to sports events, visit arts shows, etc. just because you may be the youngest one attending!  You’ll miss out on so many opportunities if you do.  To dispel another myth: upperclassmen don’t hate the freshmen.  I’m not sure why people sometimes think this.  Point is, every club, sports team, or music group is always looking for new participants, regardless of age.  Get involved, and get involved early in your career at NA, because even seven years will eventually pass you by.

4.  Get to know your teachers

I’m not saying to call their houses on Saturday nights to chitchat, but really, teachers do care about you, and want to see that you’re doing well as a person, as well as a student in the class.  This really has been one of the greatest benefits of my time at NA, something that I truly hope I won’t lose in college.  Don’t wait – your teachers are only a lunch table away!  There’s no teachers’ lounge to hide out in…

5.  Thank your teachers.

It seems silly, mundane even, but just a “thanks” on the way out of class is meaningful.  Our teachers at NA do so much for us, preparing for class, keeping lectures varied and interesting, working with students outside of class, and so on and so forth.  Teaching at NA is an around-the-clock job.  They don’t come in late, they don’t leave early, and they don’t tune out outside of class.  Let them know you appreciate it.

6.  Try to avoid being late.

Why?  Because you miss stuff!  And because it’s rude.  I’m no angel at this at all, but it’s an NA problem that permeates almost all clubs and organizations.  We’re busy and over-scheduled, but really, try when you can to avoid this one.

7.  Read the reading, come prepared.

So you forgot the reading once – it happens to all of us.  You were over-loaded, it fell off the list.  Sure, all get over-worked sometimes.  But don’t make it a habit.  Even if you’re the kid who can pull a B+ on a paper without reading the book, it’s a bad practice.  You’ll miss out on some great literature, and you’re really not helping yourself to become a better writer or a better thinker.  Take pride in your work, and don’t settle for the lesser grade because reading is boring and thinking is hard.  It’s never as bad as you think, and who knows, maybe when you sit down to do the reading, you’ll find something that really catches your interest!

8.  Talk to someone new.  Try something new.

Kids at NA do the craziest things.  They go around the world for competitions, sports events, musical acts, etc. etc.  Everyone has an interesting story.  So talk to someone new, in the hallway, after class, wherever.

9.  Don’t be afraid to look like a fool.  You won’t.

This goes along with the next one, but really, even when NA laughs at someone, it’s in good humor.  We’re generally kind, and in the off-moments when we’re not, we know how to apologize.  So go for it – be a little silly.  Dress like a trash monster, sing horribly on stage, pretend to be your headmaster for Halloween, convince your grade to be the praying mantises for Spirit Week.  Even if it doesn’t catch on at first, the kookiest habits at NA have a way of becoming popular.  Ascot day?

10.  Don’t hate on NA.

Okay, so sometimes the cafeteria food can be a drag, and it can get depressing when the floor is littered with cans to catch the dripping rain from cracks in the ceiling.  Yet you do have to hand it to a place willing to have a school-wide cha-cha line, where teachers are just as likely to jump up in a spontaneous dance as they are to dress up for Spirit Week or rap the Odyssey.  It’s fun to hear about the wonders of returning red winged black-birds, to cheer on the perennially under-dog football team, and to relish in the moments that we label “only at NA.”   It can be tense sometimes, working with so many highly competitive peers, but it could be worse.  At least we can laugh at ourselves.