A Day in the Life of A Boarding Student

By Adi Blum ’20

8:05 It’s time to go to breakfast!

My favorite thing about studying at Hebron Academy is the view I get to see once I wake up and leave my dorm.

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day.

Since I haven’t seen most of my friends before study hall, breakfast is the perfect time to catch up and start the day with a smile (and waffles)!

10:10  School meeting time!

We sit with our advisory, get updated every day about what activities are happening and which clubs are meeting that day!

Also, all seniors are presenting their “Last Word” during the school meeting. It is an amazing opportunity to learn more about our classmates.

1:30 After school activities!

Every student has an after school activity they choose (soccer, field hockey, mountain biking, music, art, etc.) My activity is After-School Art.

7:30 Study hall time!


Every boarding student needs to be in their room at 7:30 ready to study!
My plans were to read my book and write my next assignments for the week in my planner 🙂

“Maine: The Way Life Should Be”

By Bayleigh Patenaude ’20

Birds chirping, sun shining, and a cool, crisp breeze gently blowing through my room. No hustle and bustle of cars to be heard. No rumble of a train running through town. 

This is my life, every day, morning and night, growing up in rural Maine.

For my entire 17 years of life, I have lived in a small town called Casco.

 Nearby are the towns of Naples, Bridgton, and Sebago, and much alike to Casco, they are small but full of life. Living here, everyone knows everyone and everything about everyone. There are no secrets to be kept. The kids here come from families who have been in this area for at least 4 generations, and the families have some of the most amazing stories to tell.

Living here is quite different than living in a city. First off, the biggest city that is actually close to me is Portland, which is still about an hour away. In comparison to New York or Boston, it’s decently smaller. Uber, Lyft, and even subway systems aren’t really a thing here. If you want to go somewhere you either call your friends or drive yourself. 

Second, we really don’t have major sports teams in our area. Don’t get me wrong though, there are some of the most passionate Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics fans up through here, but we don’t quite have the easy access of being able to walk to The Garden or Fenway whenever there’s a game.

Despite the differences, there are so many wonderful experiences that I wouldn’t trade the world for, that I’ve had because of the area I live in. I live in one of the most beautiful places in Maine, with lakes surrounding the area all over. There are large, popular lakes, like Sebago and Long Lake that have some of the most beautiful views you could ever see. There are also quiet gems like Pleasant Pond, right in the middle of my town, that are perfect for taking the kayak or canoe out for a relaxing paddle.

Not only do we have the gorgeous lakes surrounding us, but we also have small, but still mighty mountains in the area to hike. 

Bayleigh P. and Ainsley K. enjoying the serene calmness after a challenging hike

There is a particular mountain called Rattlesnake Mountain near me, which is a challenging hike, but extremely fun. There’s also There is no better feeling than hiking a mountain, and enjoying the view from the peak. 

Though it is cool to hear about “big city life” and hear about the developments and furthering of technology and everything in cities, I still much rather prefer my quiet, small Maine town life. I wouldn’t trade the world for experiences I’ve had and memories I’ve made in the town I live in, and I very much agree with the statement “Maine: the way life should be!” I love this beautiful state, and everything it comes with. As the sign says as you’re entering Maine on the highway, “Welcome Home”, and welcome to my home.

Working A Summer Job

By Lillybeth Randall ’22

“Why would you want to do that and waste your summer?” is probably what goes through every kid’s mind when they find out that one of their friends tells them that they have a summer job or their parents suggest that they should look for a summer job. At least that’s what went through mine, but now I’m an employee of two years at Taber’s Restaurant and Mini-Golf and couldn’t be happier with my decision.

But really, why would I waste my summer, working? Personally, I love to shop, – who doesn’t? – but I can’t really shop without money so that’s where having a job comes in handy because it supplies me with the money that I would need to purchase unnecessary things. All jokes aside, having a little extra money in my back pocket is pretty great. Not only does the shopping feel great, but getting the check, and knowing that you worked hard for the money instills work ethic into our young minds. Pretty soon we’ll be graduating and we’ll be thrown out into the real world and we need things to prepare us for that. We need to know that nothing is just given to us, it’s earned through hard work.

Hope

A reflection of the softball season by Kaila Mank ’21

If you ever lose hope in something it will never happen. Hope is when you have a desire for something to happen. People who have a lot of hope, achieve more in life because if you hope for something you have more desire to make it happen. Although even if you have hope for something, that doesn’t mean it will always come true. There are some things we can control, and after you realize that you leave more room for other things you can hope for. Have you ever hoped for something so much and you know other people are hoping for the same thing,  but it doesn’t happen? This was my softball season. My whole team worked really hard, and we all lifted our spirits and hoped to win game after game, but it didn’t happen for us.

Game Day:

Mercy rule 0-21; we knew if we wanted to have a successful season we were going to have to work harder. We had two weeks to have long hard practice days to prove that we wanted to win more than any of those other teams.

Game Day:

On the way down you could feel the energy in the bus although it was as quiet as owls awaiting their prey. As soon as we entered the bus you felt every single heart drop deeper and deeper into the back of the chairs as we drove away. Mercy rule again 1-21.

Practice:

Hope is high. Energy is restored. We had two days. Sprint, catch, pitch, hit. Repeat. Two long days and we were ready. 

Game Day: 

A week later after two other games had been lost, we had high spirits and pushed through. We knew this was it, we were going to win on our turf and this one was for us. Kents Hill arrived, energy lifted. Ringing that victory bell our team had gotten closer than ever before.10-5, we did it, it was at that point nothing could bring us down. We knew we had it in us, we just had to push for it.

Practice:

After a season of disappointment but close games, it was time for the semi-final game. Sitting together as a team a day before the game, we knew what we had to do right, and how hard we had to work if we really wanted it. It was at the moment that I had seen hope in everyone, even the coaches because we knew we could do it.

Game Day:

It was an amazing start to a game that we had so much hope toward winning, we were winning until the third inning when we had too much faith in ourselves and we let our guard down. When it came around to the fifth inning we were losing but had a chance to come back, and could make it. They ended the game in the middle of the fifth for another mercy rule 13-25. The second the umps called the game you could feel how heavy the air got on your shoulders as if you were being pulled to the ground. 

That bus ride home from Gould was silent. All you could hear were the bubby roadways rubbing the tires underneath the bus. There was disappointment all around. Although despite the long and sorrowful ride home, once we were back on campus we had to let all of the disappointment go. “Good game” was being passed around. Even with no championship, I have never been part of a more supportive team filled with so much hope during bad games and even practices that can bounce back from the season we had to focus on not what’s behind us but what’s ahead.

Teammates celebrating Samantha Gumprecht’s ’20 homerun