Freshmen and sophomores gathered in Nichols Atrium and Nichols Auditorium today for LIFE meetings after seventh period. The freshmen listened to the senior panel, a group of select seniors, that shared some tips and tricks for a fulfilling high school experience while the sophomores met with mathematics teacher Jane Keller for a discussion on sex and decision making.

LIFE stands for “Living with Intent, Focus and Enthusiasm,” and the goal of its programs is to help students maintain a balanced perspective on their own lives and the world around them. Throughout the year, freshmen attend around five LIFE meetings, while there are only two or three meetings held for sophomores.

The senior panel was introduced by Upper School Head Butch Keller, who then dismissed advisors and left the freshmen, grouped by advisory, in the hands of the seniors.

“I thought that you’d rather discuss these things with seniors than your advisors,” Keller said before dismissing the upperclassmen to disperse throughout the atrium. Each senior took the lead in a group discussion with two freshman advisories.

The seniors asked the freshmen various thought-provoking questions to spark a discussion. They also focused on topics specific to a student’s high school experience, like sleep and grades as well as broader ideas like integrity, morality and kindness.

“Our senior, Peter Connors, told us about his personal high school experience and gave us advice about what worked for him,” Sachi Bajaj (9) said. “He said that high school is a time when you can’t rely on sleeping late or procrastinating; you really need to do your work and be on top of everything.”

The freshmen filled out worksheets that helped them evaluate their own values and ideals as well as pie charts, the goal of which was to make the students more aware as to how their time was spent each day.

“I feel that the LIFE meetings, especially this one, help us reorganize our time to be more productive and focus on important daily functions like sleep and taking care of ourselves,” Chloe Affaki (9) said.

Meanwhile, the sophomores attended a discussion mediated by Keller on the topics of sex and decision making. She discussed the importance of knowing and communicating one’s own desires and also gave advice on staying safe at parties.

“I think the presentation will get some couples to be more vocal in their own relationships and also influence people to attend self-defense classes, so we don’t get assaulted and be unable to defend ourselves,” Mihir Sharma (10) said.

Students also watched a TED Talk video regarding how sex and sexual relationships are portrayed in today’s society. They then participated in an activity in which they used colored pieces of paper to represent the outcomes of important decisions they made in high school. Approximately a third of the sophomores held up a green piece of paper, illustrating the third of high-schoolers who have made a bad decision that resulted in negative consequences.

“The presentation showed me how common it is in high schools for people to make in-the-moment decisions that they regret and that there are ways to plan for or prevent these types of situations, which is super useful––especially in a relationship,” Mihir said. “The assembly gave students a different perspective on sex and other stuff that will undoubtedly take place for some high school students and also gave advice on what to do when [students] get into sticky situations that are not easy to handle or escape from.”

While the freshmen and sophomores were attending their LIFE meetings, the juniors and seniors met with their Eagle Buddies at Saratoga and Bucknall.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Kathy Fang

Eric Jeong (12) leads his LIFE group in a discussion of sleep. The senior panel also brought up the broader ideas of integrity, morality and kindness during the meeting.