Uncategorized – A Student Publication of the Roxbury Latin School

By Hari Narayanan I, Editor-in-Chief

Welcome to the first virtual Tripod in the publication’s 125-year history. So far this year, I’ve spoken to you about mental health, student activism, and humor in our discourse at RL. This time, however, I think that to highlight one particular issue would be to miss the big picture and pretend this is a normal Tripod in a normal time. Instead, I am going to try my hand at a challenge facing all of us in different ways: making sense of this moment.

Before I do that, I need to give some context for the Tripod you’re about to read. In April we found out that we would not be returning to campus this year. Heading into the production of this issue, Mr. Pojman and I were concerned that for several reasons, a virtual newspaper would not be possible. For one, a newspaper requires things to have happened in the community. For another, it requires people to write about those things.

COVID-19 has changed the world as we knew it

Rumors abound, but the origin of the coronavirus is uncertain

By Ethan Phan II

November 17th was a gray, foggy day in Wuhan, China. The past couple weeks had boasted subtle winds, warm weather, and clear skies, and this particular Sunday marked the beginning of gloomier forecasts in the region. But no one could have predicted just how gloomy things were about to become.

Zoom classes are a virtual success

By David Brennan I

The unprecedented coronavirus pandemic has caused schools across the world to close their doors and forced them to come up with new ways to educate their students—Roxbury Latin is no different. Students left campus for Spring Break following class on March 11, and could not return for rest of the school year. Meanwhile, the remainder of the curriculum is being finished virtually on Zoom. Instead of gathering for homeroom each morning, students just open up their computers and click on the Zoom link for the teacher of their first class. These links then bring the students into the virtual space where classes are conducted. While it is certainly a change from normal, this new reality has worked relatively well over the first several weeks. Besides a welcome shift from the original schedule, everything seems to have gone according to plan.

School-wide poll reveals students’ reactions to the pandemic

By Tripod Staff

Each issue this year, Tripod has conducted a poll of the student population asking a combination of serious and funny questions. This issue we focused many of the questions on how students are feeling about the unfortunate situation we are all in. We received responses from one hundred and six students from all ages. We hope that the information and responses provided here will provide some insight into how we are all doing and as always, some humor too! Notes from the Tripod editors are in italics. Thanks to everyone who responded! At the bottom of the article, you can see the winners of our two prizes.

The pandemic is affecting all schools similarly, but their responses are different

By Chris Zhu I

As the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global shutdown and sent everyone into quarantine, schools around the world have been focused on resuming normal activities online. In this unprecedented time, institutions have embraced the use of online media to connect students and teachers and digital teaching platforms on a scale never seen before. Just like embracing the many other parts of current quarantine life, adjusting to an entirely online system hasn’t been an easy process and has required frequent adjustment. RL students have experienced this themselves – after a somewhat unpleasant first few days of long online school days, the school thankfully responded to students’ feedback and consequently adapted to fewer online classes and a longer lunch break. In the spirit of recreating the school environment remotely, RL has also run occasional online Halls and homerooms to simulate community gatherings. While our community has made significant progress with successful remote learning, it is interesting to see how other schools have responded to the crisis. I polled a few friends from ISL schools and some other nearby schools to see what their experiences were with the new online system.

The question on every graduating senior’s mind: What will colleges do?

By Will Specht II

College – the next step. Between taking standardized tests, applying, and finally deciding where you want to go, this process students commit to every year is undoubtedly long and complicated. However, COVID-19 has drastically changed this process. Applicants, accepted students, and current college students alike have all had to face the unknown as colleges scrambled to cope with the new global reality. Across the country, colleges have had to turn virtual for all students, both prospective and enrolled. Most colleges have closed to students and have also closed tours for potential applicants. At the same time, the SAT and SAT subject tests have been postponed, while AP tests are now online. With these massive changes, colleges have chosen how to handle these new circumstances while some prepare for another semester online.

Patriot or traitor? Brady’s departure is the end of an era

By Miles Baumal-Bardy VI

As we sit here stuck in our homes, upset that all major sports events are canceled, it is important to reflect on one of the most important people in New England sports history: Tom Brady. Some might hold a grudge against this man, but we can never repay the satisfaction he brought us. Winning six Super Bowls, he was the only man in history to accomplish such a marvelous feat. Brady started as a lowly sixth-round pick from Michigan in the 2000 NFL draft, but he would soon blossom into someone much greater.

Yard signs celebrate seniors

By Christian Landry I

All around Massachusetts, high schools have been providing yard signs for graduating seniors to indicate that they are a member of the class of 2020. With the help of parents of Class I, RL has done the same. On May 9, several parents of the class of 2020 traveled to houses of RL seniors to drop off RL yard signs.

Zoombombing slows meteoric growth of video-conferencing company

By Tim Smith I

In this time of self-isolation, the resultant decline in consumption outside of necessities has caused the stock of many successful companies to decline. The opposite has happened for Zoom Video Communications. Their stock was steadily climbing due to the increase in working and learning from home, but this recently changed due to privacy concerns within the company. That lack of privacy has been exploited in a popular yet controversial way: zoombombing.

Category: Uncategorized

Inside This Issue: Quick Links

Editorial: Making Sense of This Moment