Saturday, December 6, 2014
Happy Birthday to Henry Bristol!!
Henry celebrated his 17th over Break, but we still sang our unique First Hunt song for him upon his return. We hope you had a great day and will have many happy days in the year to come, Henry!
Monday, December 1, 2014
Welcome Back! December, Here we Come
Dear Parents and Residents,
With Thanksgiving Break and November behind us, we move farther into Second Tri and know that we will find some tougher weeks ahead. With just two and a half weeks until Winter Break, us smathers' know that there isn't much time until we find ourselves on another break. Most teachers, however, take that to be reason enough to really challenge you for those short couple of weeks that you are here. December is definitely one of the toughest months workload-wise, with lots of assignments, major projects, and tests, and a greater tendency for a lot of those assignments to be crammed into the same week. It's also the final month for Seniors to wrap up those college applications (and for some of us, college decisions already!). AsiaFest is on December 6th, Semi-Formal on the 13th, and the Annual First Hunt Hall Dinner is on Sunday, December 14th. There is also a school-wide Holiday celebration, a December Koffehaus, and a host of hall programs planned for the coming weeks and month.
December can be stressful on the individual at NCSSM. In response, we need to provide even more support than usual for our hall mates. First Hunt's Hall Dinner plays a part in promoting hall unity and helping individuals de-stress for a few hours for fun and fellowship with some delicious food. I'll post additional information about the Hall Dinner soon.. if you haven't seen, though, please RSVP (for residents) to Praruj Pant via email and for parents and family members, we ask that you please donate either a dish or a gift amount to help us provide enough food for all of us. Thank you so much! See the email from Praruj Pant from just a couple days ago for additional information- more info coming to you soon.
Happy Holidays!
-First Hunt
With Thanksgiving Break and November behind us, we move farther into Second Tri and know that we will find some tougher weeks ahead. With just two and a half weeks until Winter Break, us smathers' know that there isn't much time until we find ourselves on another break. Most teachers, however, take that to be reason enough to really challenge you for those short couple of weeks that you are here. December is definitely one of the toughest months workload-wise, with lots of assignments, major projects, and tests, and a greater tendency for a lot of those assignments to be crammed into the same week. It's also the final month for Seniors to wrap up those college applications (and for some of us, college decisions already!). AsiaFest is on December 6th, Semi-Formal on the 13th, and the Annual First Hunt Hall Dinner is on Sunday, December 14th. There is also a school-wide Holiday celebration, a December Koffehaus, and a host of hall programs planned for the coming weeks and month.
December can be stressful on the individual at NCSSM. In response, we need to provide even more support than usual for our hall mates. First Hunt's Hall Dinner plays a part in promoting hall unity and helping individuals de-stress for a few hours for fun and fellowship with some delicious food. I'll post additional information about the Hall Dinner soon.. if you haven't seen, though, please RSVP (for residents) to Praruj Pant via email and for parents and family members, we ask that you please donate either a dish or a gift amount to help us provide enough food for all of us. Thank you so much! See the email from Praruj Pant from just a couple days ago for additional information- more info coming to you soon.
Happy Holidays!
-First Hunt
Program: Spirituality Discussion
November 19th, 2014
One of my favorite programs of November came just a couple nights before we took off for Thanksgiving break. I (Steven) led a spirituality discussion with a couple of other hall-mates. In all honesty, it was something I was a bit nervous about, and that was.. well that was for a couple of reasons. First, I was nervous about whether I'd ask the right questions, which was really a pretty silly concern- because what I found was that no matter what questions I had prepared, someone else (or myself) probably had a better question stored in their head anyway that just needed the right kind of discussion and thinking to unlock it. So there we sat, talking for what I thought might be a twenty or twenty-five minute program. We just got so immersed in the discussion, however, that before we knew it an hour had gone by, even an hour and fifteen minutes. It was such an incredible discussion we had: we each gave personal thoughts about what spirituality and religion (or lack thereof) meant to us, how we perceived it, what our families taught us, and what we actually do about it or how we deal with it. We talked about more than just spirituality though. We went on to explore morality, and how we thought our families' raising of us shaped us to who we are today. We talked about internal joys and fears, and how we thought we'd changed since our freshman year or even from the previous year of high school.
It's conversations like these that really help one to re-realize what an amazing group of people he is surrounded with at NCSSM, and on First Hunt. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, one of the things that I am most thankful for at NCSSM is that I have the ability to talk to someone else about this- any person, any time, and they will almost always give me a very meaningful answer. It's a connection that I never really had with any of my friends before coming here, as I'm sure it is for lots of other NCSSM students. One of the reasons I am happiest I came to NCSSM is for conversations like that spirituality discussion. I look forward to many more.
One of my favorite programs of November came just a couple nights before we took off for Thanksgiving break. I (Steven) led a spirituality discussion with a couple of other hall-mates. In all honesty, it was something I was a bit nervous about, and that was.. well that was for a couple of reasons. First, I was nervous about whether I'd ask the right questions, which was really a pretty silly concern- because what I found was that no matter what questions I had prepared, someone else (or myself) probably had a better question stored in their head anyway that just needed the right kind of discussion and thinking to unlock it. So there we sat, talking for what I thought might be a twenty or twenty-five minute program. We just got so immersed in the discussion, however, that before we knew it an hour had gone by, even an hour and fifteen minutes. It was such an incredible discussion we had: we each gave personal thoughts about what spirituality and religion (or lack thereof) meant to us, how we perceived it, what our families taught us, and what we actually do about it or how we deal with it. We talked about more than just spirituality though. We went on to explore morality, and how we thought our families' raising of us shaped us to who we are today. We talked about internal joys and fears, and how we thought we'd changed since our freshman year or even from the previous year of high school.
It's conversations like these that really help one to re-realize what an amazing group of people he is surrounded with at NCSSM, and on First Hunt. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, one of the things that I am most thankful for at NCSSM is that I have the ability to talk to someone else about this- any person, any time, and they will almost always give me a very meaningful answer. It's a connection that I never really had with any of my friends before coming here, as I'm sure it is for lots of other NCSSM students. One of the reasons I am happiest I came to NCSSM is for conversations like that spirituality discussion. I look forward to many more.
Recap: the First Hunt Relay
November 18th, 2014
Tonight the hall broke up into 5 teams who competed with each other for the noble title of First Hunt Relay champion. Each team competed to see who could complete a series of 13 events as quickly as they could. These ranged from eating donuts of a string to spinning around a bat 10 times to building a human pyramid or having to pass a tennis ball to all team members only using the space between the chin and neck. In short, each team sought to progress through a series of several challenges (which tested both individual and team abilities) to see who was the best 1st-Hunters.
Of course, this was a great deal of fun and no one group is really better than another, which was actually the final result. One team won by just a few fractions of a second; the remaining teams had completed the last test within just 30 seconds of the first. In the end, we were all rewarded with a pizza party (hooray!), but what we can really take away from this is that we are one as a hall and we got to have some fun with each other. It can be tough at NCSSM to be a team player, but in the end it is one of the best things you can do, for both yourself and for others. First Hunt is a family- and families both work hard and play hard, all the time sticking together. The First Hunt relay was a great chance for us to come together and enjoy that about each other once again.
Tonight the hall broke up into 5 teams who competed with each other for the noble title of First Hunt Relay champion. Each team competed to see who could complete a series of 13 events as quickly as they could. These ranged from eating donuts of a string to spinning around a bat 10 times to building a human pyramid or having to pass a tennis ball to all team members only using the space between the chin and neck. In short, each team sought to progress through a series of several challenges (which tested both individual and team abilities) to see who was the best 1st-Hunters.
Of course, this was a great deal of fun and no one group is really better than another, which was actually the final result. One team won by just a few fractions of a second; the remaining teams had completed the last test within just 30 seconds of the first. In the end, we were all rewarded with a pizza party (hooray!), but what we can really take away from this is that we are one as a hall and we got to have some fun with each other. It can be tough at NCSSM to be a team player, but in the end it is one of the best things you can do, for both yourself and for others. First Hunt is a family- and families both work hard and play hard, all the time sticking together. The First Hunt relay was a great chance for us to come together and enjoy that about each other once again.
November Hall Food Thank-you!
We'd like to think Carol and Steve Tulevech as well as Michael and Betsy Piehler for their generous contributions to the hall on November 12th and 19th, respectively. You and your donated items were very much appreciated and enjoyed by all on First Hunt!
Furthermore, we at First Hunt hope that all of you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving and time with your sons.
Furthermore, we at First Hunt hope that all of you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving and time with your sons.
Happy Birthday Shane!!!
Shane celebrated his 18th birthday on November 15th (a glorious day, of course). We wish you a great year and hope you enjoyed your special day! Go Shane! And thank you, Praruj, for this very appropriate birthday sign.
Honoring a Few of Our Pre-Thanksgiving Weekly Wonders
I'd like to apologize for not having uploaded some of our more recent weekly wonders. Each spent their week of fame on the hall's walls and it is fair that these people receive that same special treatment on our blog.
Each of these individuals is truly wonderful and are so important to making First Hunt the amazing community that we have been and continue to be. Please read below to learn more about them!
Presenting: the marvelous Jack Robertson, the outstanding Pranav Kemburu, the exceptional Christian Bailey-Burke, the remarkable Reid Herrera, and the amazing Henry Bristol!!
Each of these individuals is truly wonderful and are so important to making First Hunt the amazing community that we have been and continue to be. Please read below to learn more about them!
Presenting: the marvelous Jack Robertson, the outstanding Pranav Kemburu, the exceptional Christian Bailey-Burke, the remarkable Reid Herrera, and the amazing Henry Bristol!!
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