As the air begins to warm, the days lengthen, flowers start to blossom, and the end of the academic year creeps onto the horizon, the halls feel too big, evoking a sense of emptiness. With the Sixth Formers’ last days approaching, students find themselves experiencing these familiar feelings.
The Sixth Form’s time attending school physically is nearing conclusion, and many Sixth Formers find themselves facing the bitter truth that the end they may or may not have wished for in their youth has finally come upon them, with their last day of classes, the Rosettes Ceremony, and networking events all in their near futures.
Sixth Former Pat Cohen said, “The jokes that we used to make in class—that one day we’ll be having our last first-period statistics class—are starting to become a reality, and in the coming weeks, we’ll have our last first-period statistics class ever.”
Head of Information Services Ms. Lisa Snyder notes that in these last few months, Sixth Form behavior has taken a turn for the better.
“It seems like they’ve become a very cohesive group of people, with friend groups getting bigger and wider,” Ms. Snyder said. “It starts after spring break, and it just gets stronger and stronger until the end of the year.”
As the end approaches, Sixth Formers often find themselves reminiscing about days passed and the things they’ve taken for granted these past four years.
“I think I’ll miss the little things the most. Things like hallway conversations, hanging out in the library. Although we don’t think of these things, it’ll be weird without them in my life,” Cohen said.
With the Sixth Form’s last day of formal classes rapidly approaching on Friday, May 9th, the Rosettes ceremony also nears.
The Rosettes Ceremony is a school assembly where the student body meets in Centennial Hall, with each Form sitting in the seats of the Forms a year ahead of them, with the Fifth Form taking up the seats of the Sixth Formers in the front row.
The ceremony passes the torch from the Sixth Form to the Fifth Form, from one form of leaders to another. It is also where the members of the next year’s Signet Society are announced, although the ceremony can be chaotic at times.
“I understand that the ceremony is chaotic, but I’m happy to embrace that chaos because of the meaning and symbolism behind it,” Sixth Form Dean Mr. William Leech said.
However, with the end of the Sixth Formers’ time in school comes their entrance into the real world.
One way the school helps to prepare Sixth Form students is through an orchestrated networking event for Sixth Formers on April 25th, organized by Palmer House.
Hosted by previous Haverford alumni, this event aims to help the Sixth Form students practice their networking skills and create useful connections that will help the students in later years, even after they walk through the halls of Haverford for the final time.
The school has been helping the Sixth Formers prepare for the world their entire time, coining the motto “Preparing Boys for Life.”
Dean of Students Mr. Luqman Kolade thinks the school’s efforts prepare the Sixth Form for their inevitable departure.
“That’s sort of what the senior project is, they get two weeks to do a thing. There’s a level of freedom associated with being a senior, but I think the school does a good job of preparing the seniors, while also still holding them accountable for their actions,” Mr. Kolade said.
Although heaps of stress are associated with the end of the school year, the truth is that students, teachers, and faculty all around the school—Sixth Formers or not—currently face their own challenges, whether with final exams or entering the real world or any other issue that’s weighing down their mind.
Despite these stresses, all can agree that these next few weeks will entail an emptiness in the halls for nearly everyone—an emptiness that seemingly comes back and hits harder year after year, no matter the number of times it recurs.
“These (Sixth Form) guys, they really, really keep this community moving—they keep this community alive, and there’s gonna be some big shoes to fill by the rest of the classes to come.”
Mr. Will Leech
But we shouldn’t be sorrowful about our upperclass brothers’ departure. We could see this as a celebration of the young men they’ve grown into. The upperclassmen have finally finished their final chapter of high school, closing the story that we’ve been reading together as a community. However, with the conclusion of one chapter comes the beginning of a new, empty chapter: one filled with blank pages that only the Sixth Formers can write.
“These (Sixth Form) guys, they really, really keep this community moving—they keep this community alive, and there’s gonna be some big shoes to fill by the rest of the classes to come,” Mr. Leech said.