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As you approach final exams and early college application decisions for seniors, you might feel overwhelmed by the pressure and the expectations from your surroundings to do well. You might even start to doubt yourself, worrying that all the efforts you have put into preparing for this final week before winter break might come to nothing. You are not alone. “One can't be forever dwelling on what might have been. One should realize one has as good as most, perhaps better, and be grateful.” At the end of the day, don’t forget how far you have come in your Middlesex career, whether that is transitioning to a totally new environment, overcoming academic and athletic challenges, or cherishing every last moment at the school. Take some time, too, to thank the people you have not yet thanked because it is their help at the moments in your life when you most need it that made you who you are today. So always remember to take a look back, if you want to move forward. Nick & Harrison

What is Bessie’s past and what does she want for the future of Middlesex? The Anvil editorial staff sat down with new Head of School Bessie Speers to discuss her goals for the future of Middlesex and her background as an educator and administrator over the years. Starting from the beginning, Mrs. Speers described always “knowing that [she] wanted to be a head of school” and how she worked several posts in admissions offices and other administrative posts before being selected for her first headship at The Ethel Walker School in Connecticut. She then moved on to the Tower Hill School, continuing in her role as Head of School before coming to Middlesex. Having worked over several decades in the boarding school world, Mrs. Speers comes to Middlesex with a towering reputation. In an interview a year ago with a previous long-time Taft Head of School, Lance Odden, he described Mrs. Speers as “fantastic” and a “great win” for the school. Additionally, it has long been rumored that Mrs. Speers was the hand-picked successor of Head of School Kathy Giles. When asked about the beginning of her tenure, Mrs. Speers said, “every school is different,” but stressed how welcoming the Middlesex community was to her and her family, and how impressed she has been by the Middlesex students and faculty whom she describes as “gritty and hungry” for success. Mrs. Speers has been remarkably enthusiastic about meeting and supporting Middlesex students and alumni, often hosting students in her office for coffee as well as being a mainstay on the sidelines. No one can doubt her dedication to immersing herself in the Middlesex community. Looking towards the future, Mrs. Speers frequently mentioned her excitement about the upcoming “strategic vision process” that will evaluate Middlesex from a variety of viewpoints and position Middlesex to succeed in a changing educational environment. Mrs. Speers describes the process as a chance to answer the question “Why does Middlesex matter.” Meanwhile, she hopes “to listen, to learn, to observe, to be a part of things” while working on the next strategic plan for the school. Certainly, the next few years will likely challenge and grow Middlesex in many ways. There are plans in varying stages of development for a new athletic field house and Dining Hall, as well as needed renovations to the current Athletic Center and Elliot Hall. The proliferation of generative AI programs will also apply new stress to the task of keeping students’ work honest. Additionally, Middlesex continues to think about how to best meet the needs of students struggling with stress from academics and the social challenges that living away from home often incurs, as well as pushing students to “buy-in” to school culture in the same way they did prior to COVID. These situations all present Mrs. Speers with an opportunity to leverage her experience in planning and leadership as well as her ever-growing understanding and knowledge of the Middlesex community to guide the school. Luke Power and Nick Costantino

Everybody is tired. Everybody is done with their friends. Everybody wants to leave. But, you should still feel grateful, right? No. Some moments in life, you should just accept that you will feel tired, angry, and ready to be done. It sucks but it's true. Life will throw curve balls at you right when you’re down, and it will be tough for a while. As you get out of these tough moments and go to something better, remember those times when you were down and forever feel grateful for the good moments, because nobody likes to be down. Especially me. Nick & Harrison

This week marks the beginning of many things: a new semester and new classes at Middlesex, the Lunar New Year celebrated in many places and cultures around the world, and spring. As you reflect on the first semester or the previous year, you might be tempted to find fault in the things that your have done and wishing that you could have done something differently, whether that is an unsatisfactory test grade, an unexpected college decision, or a loss in sports. An end without a beginning is not an end, and a beginning without an end is not a beginning. Remember to let go of the past from time to time, so you can make room for the new and the better to come. Remember to also recognize your past efforts and achievements, because it is from those experiences that you can learn and grow. As you march onward into the next few months, think of what “beginning” looks like for you. Nick & Harrison

As winter turns to spring and everybody returns from March break, let’s try to enjoy ourselves with the last few months on campus. The sun will be shining, the circle will be full of excited students taking in a few moments of fresh air before their next class, and the end will be near, so try to enjoy those moments with your friends and not put as much stress on things you can’t control. If you have free time during lunch or after school, go outside and have fun with your friends on the circle instead of trying to study for some test a week from then because the days with those people out on that circle are numbered and should not be taken for granted. Enjoy it before it’s gone. Nick & Harrison

As we transition from March break into the busy days of April, from hosting or helping on revisit days to gathering for the once-in-a-decade solar eclipse, to attending the long-awaited senior prom, the school year is coming to a close before you know it. Sadly, this is the last issue led by The Anvil 2023-2024 staff. Though a challenging year with wars and disasters in different places around the globe, we are hopeful that The Anvil will continue taking the initiative to inform and empower the Middlesex community and beyond. We would not have gone nearly as far without our dedicated staff who lead with their words and actions in fostering meaningful conversations around campus. This year also marks the 120th anniversary of The Anvil since its establishment in 1904, a collective enterprise that captures the Middlesex spirit of faith, truth, and work. We are so grateful to have you here, and thank you for inspiring us. Nick & Harrison

“It’s worthy!” said a Japanese tourist going down the mountain as my parents and I were hiking up to see the Broadmoor Seven Falls in Colorado when I was little. Getting up early just to get the ideal sight at the ideal time of the day and expecting a refreshing, soul-stirring experience with the sunlight glowing on our faces, we were quite disappointed by the waterfalls. It was nowhere near the “Milky Way falling from the skies” like in the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai’s poems, nor were the splashes of water “throwing off the nightly clothing of mist” like Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond. The highlight of our journey was, surprisingly, seeing a squirrel peeing from a tree. To this day, my parents and I still joke about how even the squirrel’s pee was more impressive and memorable than the Seven Falls. For sure it was not worthy for us then, at all. Years have passed, and now I ask myself the very question that the Japanese tourist probably asked himself going down that mountain: “Was it worthy?” We too often label things as “worthy” and use the labels to distinguish what deserves our time and attention from what does not: a “noteworthy” feature, a “newsworthy” event, a “trustworthy” friend, a “blameworthy” conduct, a “praiseworthy” effort. Once we make the distinction, an expectation forms, and we rely on it to keep going. So when we are questioned, whether it is by other people or ourselves, the most common excuse for still going is that one has come so far already, so why stop? There is, of course, merit to this way of thinking. Growing up in China, I was taught that being determined about something is worthy of the highest praise, constantly surrounded by platitudes like “perseverance is victory” or “only hard work can bring about success.” Yet the longer you go without knowing why, selfishly hoping that there might be a destination—breezes after storms, plains after hills, successes after failures—, what you might get eventually instead is the sight of a squirrel peeing. I have my own “platitudes,” too: pinned on top of my notes on my phone is the last stanza of Seamus Heaney’s poem “Digging:” “Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I’ll dig with it.” Below it is a quote by the master of memory and unreliable narration Kazuo Ishiguro from his book An Artist of the Floating World: “A man who aspires to rise above the mediocre, to be something more than ordinary, surely deserves admiration, even if in the end he fails and loses a fortune on account of his ambitions.” At the end of the day, instead of incessantly questioning the worth of what you encounter or produce, know that in fact, we all hurry from one destination of life to another, trying, if not things that make us happy, things that keep us living, doing, if not things that keep us living, what we have to do, and at the end doing the same things over and over again that we have to do we fail to enjoy. So you might ask, “What is really worthy then?” The answer is simpler than you think, as simple as the delight of that Japanese tourist—it is not that the Seven Falls itself was worthy, it was the moment that he decided to pick up his hiking pole, without high expectations that were bound to be disappointed nor preconceived notions to be rejected. It is by appreciating this world as it is that made the journey worthy to him. The value was not defined by the risks of sprained ankles or pollen allergy, not the miles of rocky paths that he trekked, and certainly not the view. Your pen is your “hiking pole” that will lead you through the darkest nights and the most treacherous landscapes. So it is all worthy from the very moment you choose to begin, to dig deeper and deeper into your writer’s world and aspire to rise above the ordinary—it is worthy even if you read a novel just for the sake of reading it. It is worthy if you open up a new Google doc and start brainstorming for the most ambitious, transcontinental assertions. It is worthy just by picking up your pen. Harrison Huang

I entered Middlesex in the fall of 2020, and I still think I can grasp onto that memory and travel back there, when I was just a kid with no idea why I had to go through a pandemic during my transition to high school. But, that moment also feels like a lifetime ago, four years ago, more than 20 percent of my life right now. I know for a fact that my freshman-year self, that person, would not recognize who he is today, but I probably won’t recognize myself four years from now as well. So, as I leave this school and graduate from this chapter of my life, let's look back on my journey through Middlesex and the Anvil. My freshman year I was too scared and too withdrawn to do anything beyond what was required of me, so I didn’t participate in any clubs, including the Anvil. I stayed in my own bubble and only did what I thought I was capable of. I left school right after practice and really didn’t know that many people on this campus. I ate in a tent and I felt like I was camping, just living in a location temporarily, and at a moment's notice, I would have to leave. But, as things usually do when a pandemic gets a lot better and a vaccine is widely available, everything changed my sophomore year. By then, whether it was because I realized I only had three years left or because I felt comfortable in my own skin now, I joined a bunch of clubs, the Anvil, Improv Club, Book Lovers Club and many more. I started hanging out with more people than just those I knew my freshman year, and people in different grades. I started branching out and trying to “find my promise.” I wrote many different articles that year, but I still remember my first opinion piece, when I took too much information from an outside article, which some would call plagiarism, and had to have a talk with the current Editor-In-Chief and the opinion editor about what not to do. Fun, right? But I kept writing because it was fun and it allowed me to learn about things I never would have known. I wrote an article about the writing, editing, and layout process of the Anvil, that Luke Power derisively mentions every week to me, saying it is an article about how to write an article. I wrote about the Nikole Hannah-Jones controversy that spiraled out of control and resulted in the Head of School’s resignation. I interviewed the current president of the board of Trustees, Jason Robart, about the Head of School search process. I figured out how to write and tried not to plagiarize again and eventually became a chief writer in my junior year. Now I had more freedom to write articles of my choosing and delve deeper into topics I was interested in. I wrote articles about the Chinese spy balloon, upcoming elections in Zimbabwe, Pope Francis, and the midterm elections of 2022. I also stopped doing things because I wanted to try new things, but rather because I was deeply interested in them and loved hanging out with others who had the same interests. I started running even more because I loved the team culture, I went to Creative Writing Club every week because I liked stretching my imagination and looking in rather than just looking out at the world, and I went all-in in my classes because they were actually interesting. But the Anvil was still one of the biggest parts of my life at Middlesex and continues to impact me every day because it gave me the knowledge that even if I had never done something before, I could still excel at it and love it at the same time. And then, I woke up and it was my senior year, and I was now the Co-Editor-In-Chief of the Anvil, the school newspaper since 1904, a position that I never thought I would have. The editor-in-chief is an interesting position, to say the least. I had to edit half of all the articles, yell at people to finish their duties on time, and try to innovate to make the newspaper better, alongside my friend and Co-Editor-In-Chief, Harrison. I definitely didn’t accomplish all my goals and I definitely didn’t do a perfect job, but I did what I could and I like to think I pushed the needle a little farther in the right direction. I had never written for a school newspaper before I came to Middlesex, I never wrote for the Anvil before my freshman year, and I didn’t know much about any of the topics I wrote about before I wrote about them. Thus, in my humble and mostly inexperienced opinion, everyone should try that thing they might be interested in because, at the end of the day, everyone who is at the top of their field had a first day when they didn’t know a lick of anything about their eventual specialty. Your favorite teacher at Middlesex, the one that you respect and admire and who seems like they have everything put together, also had a first day as a teacher when they didn’t know what they were doing. So, as I end my senior year, let me leave you with this: we are all living our lives for the first time and nobody really knows what they are doing, so don’t be afraid to live a little. It’s over before you know it. Nick Costantino

As the 2023-2024 school year comes to a close and summer draws near, it’s important for us to remember how much we’ve grown and to look forward to the many adventures ahead. To the new students, we encourage you to reflect on your first year at Middlesex, and consider how much you’ve grown. To the sophomores, reflect on what and who has been meaningful to you during your time at Middlesex and how you will continue to grow as upperclassmen. To the juniors, we implore you to reflect on your time at Middlesex and consider how to lead the 2024-2025 school year to be the best one yet. To the seniors, we are deeply grateful for the leadership, kindness, and support you have each shown us over the years. We know you will continue to prosper wherever your journey takes you, and we hope to fill the large shoes you leave for the rising senior class. Most of us only have 4 short years here. And if we’ve learned anything, it goes by quick. So let’s make the most of the time we have here, because in the famous words of Ferris Bueller, “life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Jack and Catherine

Iliana Tassev “don’t take anything here for granted because it will be over before you know it.” Angela Karanja “At the end of the day, prioritize yourself.” Noah Pavlov “The mindset matters.” Luca Raffa “As you may not be experienced in this world, everything that has some sort of difficulty seems impossible. Trust in time, as it tends to give sweet solutions to bitter difficulties.” Oliver Ali “don’t stick to a particular clique, be open, be fluid.” Kit Vernon “Try everything, time goes quickly.” Teddy Stevens “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift” Ema Edwards “Don’t wait until senior year to engage in new activities.” Arya Mehta “Spend as much time on the circle as you can when there’s good weather. Homework will always be there.” Esme Washburn “Don't live in regret, you can only control what’s going to happen not what already did.” Flo Morlock “Try to embrace everything and live in the moment because I spent a lot of time wishing things were over and now I wish time would slow down.” Ella Coffin “Cherish the connections with your teachers because they’re interesting, kind people” Ben Visco “Don’t join a clique.” Maya Douge “Forgiveness is always the best option.” Molly Nye “CKC.” Myroslav Bur “I love Dr. Schaeberle’s silly chemistry jokes.” Grace Bishop “Study for your APs.” Julian Marsh “The all-nighter is worth it.” Maddy Silk “Take care of yourself. You’re a person before you’re a student.”

Despite the rigor of Middlesex life, these students find time to do robotics on an interscholastic level. For a span of nearly half a year, in a lab room, the members of the Robotics Club undertook the complex task of constructing a robot for this year’s tournaments. The outcome of their effort was a tremendous success. With two state-wide qualifications for semi-finals, Ryken Robobowl and Boots Bonanza, respectively, Ben Feuer ’25 notes that he is “really grateful that [teammates] sacrificed so much time for this team and to create an enjoyable experience.” The progress, efforts, and members of the robotics team culminated in success for Middlesex Robotics this year. In order to compete in the robotics competition, the robot should be capable of more than but not limited to: autonomous driving, manual control, navigation and precision, and the ability to interact with game elements such as landing zones in the field dimensions of 12 feet by 12 feet. The robot also has to fit in an 18x18-inch box. Despite the perceived impossibility of fulfilling the required elements, the hard work of the Middlesex Robotics team was unmatched. As the season began officially on September 7th, the team was tasked with constructing the arm to grab and move a bunch of hexagonal plastic pixels, one by one, on the field and touching the sidewalls. Different amounts of points were earned depending on the completion of sub-tasks, such as the ability to launch drones over the truss (10-30 points depending on the zone) or to suspend itself by the riggings (20 points). Given this challenge, effort from the club was essential. Indeed, the amount of energy spent on the club this year has surpassed that of most of the Middlesex clubs. “Arjun [and I] and the team really want people to understand and view us as a team not as a club. We met about twice a week during the build season for an hour per meeting on the season,” Ben Feuer ’25 notes. During the club meeting, team leaders instruct members on the fundamentals of robotics, ranging from computer-aided design to strategic planning. Such teaching may seem typical of any robotics team, but the effort, sacrifice, and story of the team represent a hidden gem of the Middlesex clubs. Despite the challenges in scheduling meetings, having dedicated space, and purchasing designated kits, the robotics team offers “more interesting lessons than any class really can bring,” Ben Feuer ’25 says. Another dedicated teammate of the robotics team, Allison Luo ’27, expresses her appreciation for the team leaders as she says “I am grateful for the robotics team for creating such a meaningful and unforgettable experience”. Continuing the effort to build a strong foundation as a “team” rather than a club while offering experiences of leadership and collaboration, the future of the robotics team in the Middlesex School is worthy of attention. Matthew Yoon

A closer look at The Finance Club’s latest investment. Illustration by Anika Ata Snack cravings run rampant on campus with students swarming the Grill during its limited hours, Doordashers flooding the circle, and the town shuttle running daily to service abundant grocery hauls. Evidently, these factors call for the need of another snack outlet to contain the food frenzy at Middlesex—a vending machine. The Finance Club has since set out a provisionary plan to bring a vending machine to campus. With this enthralling prospect in place, questions arise surrounding its management and operation. What will this vending machine look like? Which delicious snacks and drinks will we opt for? Who will run it? The nuances of running and facilitating the vending machine are investigated, featuring insights from The Finance Club’s Chairman Emeritus Luke Power ‘24 and Club member Arjun Rath ‘24. The decision to introduce a vending machine to campus was twofold – trying to allow for easier access to snacks throughout the day, while also maintaining profit for the Finance Club. The idea, first proposed by Arjun Rath, stemmed from students skipping out on meals due to a heavy workload and then swarming the Grill on its limited afternoons of service. The Dining Hall is closed during much of the day and the Grill is open only Wednesday through Saturday. The Finance Club wants to address the currently undervalued student market for snacks while also aiming to uphold the club’s core value, which is, in the words of Luke Power, “making more money with money.” Finance Club, in charge of managing $35,000, aspires to teach financial skills while making profitable investments for future club initiatives – two ideas that they believe the vending machine will uphold. The vending machine itself will house 20 snack slots and 9 drink slots equipped with Apple Pay and credit card tap functions, housing 30-35 different snack choices. In addition, the machine will likely be placed in Ware Hall for easy accessibility between classes and meals. Luke Power reflects on the prospective contents of the vending machine: “We will likely have an array of drinks and chips with a balance of healthy alternatives. Arjun and Luke further predict the range of prices will likely not exceed $5 depending on the bulk deals they receive. With this, the Finance Club will be sourcing their snacks directly from Flik Dining. Mr. Peterson, who runs Flik at Middlesex, will be responsible for finalizing snack choices while Finance Club members will carry out regular restocking. Most importantly, the vending machine will set the Finance Club back $5000, a major investment that also requires long-term maintenance. However, the Finance Club considers the investment as a means of club promotion, initiative on campus, and a way to make real profit. The Finance club, with new roles and responsibilities in place, will be led by Davis Hale as incoming chairman and Arjun Rath as the CEO of the vending machine. Luke Power claims great changes will take place but also with the financial burdens the club will have to take on. Following their financial model, the vending machine is projected to make $5 a day. The Finance Club stands firm that this is an easily attainable goal, and the Club’s leaders predict that the success of the vending machine could lead to the founding of more vending machines around campus in the future. Bryan Dong