Hilltop Happenings

1. What have you learned in your time on the Hilltop that's been most useful to you and has had the most impact on your life thus far?

While at Salisbury, I have learned the importance of Brotherhood and the true meaning of respecting others. I have really been enjoying my time at School thus far, and I hope to have equally fun times as the years go on. I have also learned to appreciate true sportsmanship. America is a country of sports and you can really understand that when you attend a football or soccer game where all students come out dressed in jerseys and cheer their lungs out. I think the best sportsmanship experience I encountered this year was at the Hotchkiss football game, where we were all chanting and cheering every time we got an interception or scored one of our many touchdowns. After winning, we all started singing the Sarum Hymn as we rushed the field and took back the trophy.

2. What's your favorite place on campus and why?       

There are so many places that I love being on the campus of Salisbury. There are some amazing views that I witness from outside my window. I think that my favorite spot on campus is probably the Media Lab. I really enjoy technology, and having a class with Mr. Johnson and the other five students. This was probably my favorite class because it was so innovative and interesting. Almost every class, we would go outside with cameras and try to take the best pictures with a specific task. We would later upload them to our designated computers and sometimes make an innovative project with them, like a fading canvas going from green colors, to yellow, and reds. This was the first time I had ever used a camera like this before and I would gladly take the class again if I have the opportunity.

3. What's your favorite activity and why? 

I think that the class I enjoy the most, other than digital photography, is probably Spanish. Before coming here, I had taken Spanish during two years in middle school and I was always interested in it. Because I fluently speak French, learning another Latin language comes fairly easy. When I arrived to Salisbury, I was put in Spanish II, but quickly moved up to Spanish IV. This class was one of my favorites because I got to meet many interesting students. I also think this class was very useful as we moved beyond the basic stages of verbs and conjugation and worked on reading comprehension, conversations and more. 

I think that at Salisbury, cross country is my favorite sport. I started running cross country in 7^th grade and I have always enjoyed it. My father is also a big runner and he is the one who got me started with running. When we were young, I used to ride my bike when he was running around Paris. We would always do a long trip on Sundays to the Seine because the roads were closed to cars, and he would run in front of me during a good hour and a half. At Salisbury, running is more of an intense sport for me as I prepared all season for the New England championships. Cross country is really an individual sport because depending on how hard you train will depend on how well you perform at a race. I think that this really trains you to become more independent because your training will reflect on improvement.

The extracurricular activity that I enjoy the most is mountain biking. Every week, I usually go out about twice a week on the many trails we have on campus. I really enjoy biking because it is a sport where I can free my mind from the stress and activities that are going on. I go out for two hours and I am alone with myself in the woods. The wind flying by me as I race down the mountain helps me leave behind the tensions going on. Over Parents Weekend, I went on the biking trip to Vermont with some of my friends. This was a very fun trip and I got to meet a lot of new bikers and learn about the bike team. Next year, I hope to be able to ride with the team on Saturdays and Sundays to discover new trails and have fun as a team.