Humans of St. Marks — The St. Marker

By Ian Cho’26

Believe it or not, seven weeks have passed since the start of the school year. These past few weeks have been a major transition for many, especially the students who are new to the school. For many new students, this was their first time living independently, away from home. This was also their first time as a member of the St. Mark’s community. So, what do new students think of St. Mark’s so far?

Many students highlighted the community aspect of St. Mark’s, describing the school as close, welcoming, and home-like.

Sebastian Debonet, a Third former, shared, “I love the community… I’ve made a lot of good friends, and St. Mark’s feels like my home.”

Seoyeon Kim, another third former, shared, “I was able to truly experience and understand the school [statement], ‘Intentionally Small, Thinking Big.’ The whole St. Mark’s community is very close—all students are related to one another in some way.”

There were similar views coming from the other forms. Taras Yaitskyi, a new fifth former, shared, “I like the sports here. For academics, some classes are hard, some are easy… it depends… but I like the people here.”

This positive impression of the community seemed to continue among the returning students. Peterson Valcourt, a returning Fourth former, shared, “It’s a good experience. Everybody is pretty nice … [this is a] tight community … [and it is] easy to make friends.”

Daniel Song, another returning Fourth former, added, “I really like that … [St. Mark’s] is a smaller school … you don’t get the same experience in bigger schools. For example, if there are a thousand people in a school, you don’t know everyone. But here, you have personal connections with everyone and know them pretty well … this is something you can’t do in larger schools. I think it’s really nice that we have a smaller community.”

Other new students talked about the diverse and numerous opportunities offered at St. Mark’s. Third former Anouk Shin shared, “I got to perform my violin piece during morning chapel. I also got to be the co-head of a club. Two different experiences, but I enjoy it. St. Mark’s definitely provides many opportunities for students.”

Some new students also highlighted the passionate faculty of St. Mark’s. Stephen Hodi, a third former, shared, “[The teachers] are devoted to what they do. I have sent multiple emails regarding homework and they all respond really quickly. If I don’t understand something, they guide me through it patiently.”

Even within these first couple weeks of school, students have made heartfelt friendships were formed and long-lasting memories. Throughout each student’s transition into St. Mark’s, they all had different experiences. But from what we heard so far, their experiences are positive and filled with highlights.

As the new students continue to transition into St. Mark’s, they will each go onto their unique paths, opportunities, and new experiences. I know that the St. Mark’s community will work together to ensure that this positive experience sustains throughout their journey here.

Coco Xia ‘24

This year, with a more definite end to the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Mark’s welcomes a total of nearly 120 new students from the third, fourth, and fifth form grades. With the successful end of orientation, new St. Markers have just begun a remarkable journey at SM, their new home with a plethora of amazing activities and a community of great people.

On the weekend of their arrival, some of our new lions were invited to provide some opinions regarding the start of school. Most of them expressed their excitement for the incoming school year, with some saying that they “can’t wait to see what the classes are like” and “to see how the SM classrooms are structured.” Some mentioned that they were glad to be able to make so many friends even before classes formally started, and that the orientation activities really helped them settle into a new environment and find amazing people to become friends with. One freshman in particular recalled her favorite memory from orientation, which was the board game session she had with Mr. Valittuto in the Parkman Room. Everyone in the group actively participated and enjoyed the game, and she remembered “meeting her current best friends at the game”. With the variety of interesting activities at SM, new students were able to quickly adapt to the new environment, make new friends, and start to develop a significant sense of belonging at the new St. Mark’s community.

However, opinions from international students varied. When asked about how the first week of school has been, an international student from China said that she “[misses] home a lot as her parents and her sister are both in Shenzhen”. Indeed, after a long flight from China alone, some new freshmen feel homesick and stressed to adapt to a brand-new boarding school. Thankfully, she does find her dorm a very supportive environment with responsible and caring prefects and dorm parents. Through making more friends and talking to her prefects, she was able to “sort things out a little more and get the support that [she] needed”. Many international students, including myself, have faced the same problem of homesickness over and over. As we are all far away from home, usually only being able to return on the holidays, these problems occur pretty often. Yet luckily, we have such a reassuring and friendly community that we belong to which supports us at all times.

As classes officially started on the twelfth of September, new students have more to say. Some are thrilled by the classes, saying that the content has been “very exciting and taught at a much deeper level” and that the class size “is very small and helpful in having every student heard”. Nevertheless, some new fifth formers did encounter challenges as most of their classes are advanced, requiring them to not only adapt to the new classroom environment but also quickly develop mastery over the rigorous course materials.

New sophomore Angelica Duarte ‘25 enjoying class time!

And finally, our new lions have been enjoying their time on the fall athletic teams! A lot of new students were preseason varsity athletes, and were able to join the community for preseason practice. A new student athlete commented that “being able to play before the season starts allows me to get to know the team better and get more training time in”. Some sports have already had their first scrimmages and games of the season, and the new students are crushing it! A freshman said that although he is still a freshman, he “can’t wait to grow better at the sport with such a supportive team that [he] absolutely loves”.

From the student interviews, we can see that the new school year has been going strong for the new lions of St. Mark’s! Best wishes to them as they continue to navigate their way through this community — a remarkable journey full of joy, friendship, and support.