What is a legacy? Maybe it’s the work you leave behind, the words you speak, or the memories others carry of you. Perhaps it’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see, seeds that may grow in sunlight or shadow, seeds that may bloom for years after you are gone, or lie dormant until someone stumbles across them.

You gather your lunch from a decorated island in the New Dining Hall. You pick out the classic baked mac and cheese, a modest pile of vegetables from the salad bar, and a snickerdoodle for dessert. The mac and cheese looks delicious as usual—golden and bubbling on the edges, and you eagerly take a bite awaiting its comforting taste. But then—crunch.

As students hurry across campus to catch the bell for their next class, a fine dust settles over the Mayer Art Building’s ceramics studio during a rare free block. In the spacious and still room, partially finished clay pinch pots line the walls, waiting to be fired.

To many, Phillips Exeter Academy is simply an academically rigorous institution, but for senior Anushka Noori, the Academy has been the melting pot for all of her passions, allowing her not only to coexist but, better yet, flourish.

The commencement of a school year typically involves warm reunions, welcomes, and adjustments. For the seniors, it marks the beginning of the end. To commemorate this, and to prompt the inclusion of one-year seniors and postgraduates, this year’s senior orientation coordinators, Liz Reyes, Eric Bergofsky, and Tyler Caldwell, initiated a new senior class dinner.

We’ve always wondered if robots would take over the world someday, but it seems that AI, which has been gaining popularity in the 21st century, will become the new future. The human mind, once admired as the greatest, is now being forced to bow down to AI models such as ChatGPT.

On Wednesday, Sept. 17, Phillips Exeter’s boys’ varsity water polo team had an away match against our rival, Phillips Academy Andover. As upper Allen Klingel exclaimed, this game was “the closest in a few years”, yet Big Red took the 13-10 win. This marks their strong start to the season, with 2 wins and zero losses.

On a Wednesday afternoon, the boys’ varsity soccer team traveled to Belmont Hill, facing last year’s Class B champions on their home field. The team knew the match was bound to test their resilience, but they still gave their best effort. Despite a hard-fought match, the game ended in a 2-0 loss. Even in defeat, however, the team showed much potential and set the foundation for the rest of the season.

If you go to a girls’ varsity volleyball game, you will hear the unmistakable sound of shoes squeaking on the hardwood, the ball making contact with the players, and the cheers erupting from the stands. You will also hear the captain and recipient of this week’s Rock Award, Senior Liv Lang, offering on-court support and directions, helping guide the team toward victory.

What’s worse than studying for a math test on the first Sunday back at school? Maybe finding out that the “star wide receiver” you picked in the first round dropped three points, a whopping 17 points fewer than projected, and seeing your once 50 percent win rate plummet to 8 percent.

It’s time to wrap it up. I’m an upper now, and I’ve literally never seen this school without construction. Sometimes I wonder whether I’m living in NYC; is there some kind of housing crisis where we need to be building stuff all the time?