The term residential life has many connotations. For some, the notion of dormitory life....its quality and character...leaps to mind. For others, it is a matter of scheduled programs, visiting artists, speakers, movies, trips and weekend diversions. While these perspectives are legitimate, and will receive plenty of attention and focus in the years to come, Mike Henriques envisions residential life through a wide angle lens.
Let's say that a student's academic day goes from about 8:00 AM to 3:00PM (an admitted exaggeration in the winter term!) and afternoon activities runs from about 3:00 to 5:00. Study hall structures your time from 8:00 to 10:00 PM. After we subtract an hour for lunch and other free moments, that adds up to approximately ten hours of truly structured, ordered time out of twenty-four.
The student is left to manage fourteen hours with remarkable discretion. Hundreds of decisions--big and small--determine the quality of this, a most valuable, resource: time. I guess I'll sleep now.... Let's go to Jake's.... I have to email my dad.... Let's check out the basketball game before dinner at Art's....
One purpose of today's Corner is to consider the disparate social environments we choose from moment to moment in our so-called free time. The kids who are building boats, for example, need to find time for that unique, personal commitment. Upstairs in the Alan Shepard Boathouse, Dan and Greg study plans before applying epoxy resins to Dan's kayak.
Some students have a free block scheduled into their winter schedule. Maybe this a good time to find a sunny chair in Lovejoy Library.
Residential life can mean this: enriching the selection and quality of options available to every student during precious moments outside of structured academics and activities.
Proctor is a school that is keenly aware of the responsibilities it grants to teenagers. Within clearly defined limits, students exercise real freedom of choice. A residential life initiative promises to augment our success preparing these kids for lives in which they will truly be responsibile for outcomes.
