By Mia Occhino ’23
Emily and Mandy Rosenberg have been writers for The Ledger for the past two years. As their
time at BHS comes to a close, they told of their experiences at the school and beyond.
- Besides writing for the Ledger, what activities have you been involved with at BHS?
Emily: I participated in every theater production since my freshman year, managing costume crew, taking part as an actress in the ensemble, and as student director. I was an editor of the literary magazine, Aegis, for four years and I also was a member of the music department; in the Treble Choir and Band. I partook in the GSA too, though I unfortunately couldn’t make it to as many meetings as I hoped to because of other obligations.
Mandy: Em and I did a lot of the same activities. I was a student leader of Aegis and the Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) for my last two years at BHS, after participating frequently in them. I also took several roles in the crew and ensemble cast for BHS plays. And of course there is the venn diagram in the Ledger Office of the color guard and newspaper in which Nola and I land in the middle. I am also a rookie french horn player for the concert band, which I hope to continue.
- How would you describe your experiences as seniors before the school year was affected by the COVID-19 outbreak? What were some notable points of the year for you?
Emily: I loved hanging out with my friends in the library. Those of us who didn’t have cars would play games and do puzzles during senior privilege. These were the moments that I really cherished when we were getting to the last few weeks before internship.
Mandy: I agree, I enjoyed my senior seminar during B block with my friends and just before we went on lockdown, and I joined my friend’s badminton gang that played during H block in the gym. There were a lot of late nights and car rides.
- In what ways have your lives been changed by the pandemic?
Emily: A lot of days I spent from 8:15am-7:00pm or 9:00pm at school, then I’d get home and do homework. I had barely any time to do leisure activities or exercise, except for on the weekends, when I would hang out with friends, or I would usually only watch a lot of TV with my sister at her house. Now that I’m not getting any physical activity at musical rehearsal or by going out, I’ve needed to find alternative ways to ensure I don’t get completely out of shape; I jog, do workouts, lift weights etc. Like Mandy, I’ve also been watching a lot of movies and TV. We rewatched almost four seasons of The Office already, Sherlock, Fargo, and there was one day where we watched Parasite, The Dallas Buyers Club, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and The King’s Speech in one sitting. Beyond that, I’ve been downloading a lot of books on the Libby app (I usually never had time to read) and instead of writing as a creative outlet, I’ve been drawing and painting. I go to sleep at 2 or 3 am and about once a week I’ll have a mental fit about the virus, but there’s not one day when I don’t recognize how it’s interrupted our lives. I was in the midst of applying for jobs and internships when this happened. It’s also weird to think about how the only people I’ve seen in person since March 12 are my immediate family members. I miss everyone a lot.
Mandy: Just in the way that you would expect them to have changed. I have found myself lacking any inspiration I once had to create and tell stories. I have filled it with watching television and movies. Just over quarantine I have become a mega-Marvel Cinematic Universe fan, which I never would have expected. But it’s a great time to watch some of the movies you haven’t seen but want to.
- What are your opinions of BHS’s online learning system? Did you find it to be an effective way to continue your education?
Emily: There are two ways to look at it. For seniors, I found the work to be more bothersome than engaging i.e., busy work. Had the pandemic not progressed and we were able to continue school as normal, the majority of us would have been going on internships and doing projects that in several ways would be more enriching and helpful as we would be learning by gaining experience in fields that we are interested in, rather than attending Zoom meetings and filling out online worksheets. Seniors were also burdened with making college decisions, filling out scholarship applications, and I also know some people who were bumped up to a near full time work schedule which made it tricky to get work done on time. For underclassmen who still have one to three more years left of high school and have no idea where they’re going after high school, I think it’s more effective especially when teachers use Google Meet and Zoom to run classes like normal. Then again, a lot of people are stressed out and distracted during this time. I’ve also thought about how after so many years in a structured classroom, students might struggle switching to a mainly independent learning environment. I actually took an online class with VHS, so I was somewhat used to the online structure, but It was still really difficult to adjust to the transition. I think that if the pandemic requires us to continue staying at home into September, some adjustments will need to be made to accommodate different types of learning.
Mandy: ^^^^ I personally have experienced little stress due to remote learning. It has felt as if teachers were not giving large quantities of or challenging work. One way that I have found it most efficient is in the music department where they are continuing to put together a concert. Within a week of lockdown, both (music department) teachers had outlets for students to contact them and practice aid. To put together a virtual concert, I had to learn, rehearse, and record a song without the band’s accompaniment. Through these assignments, I was able to fine-tune and comprehend pieces of my part where I would normally have glossed over in a group rehearsal. I had to dedicate a larger effort to my part, rather than relying on the rest of the band or other members of my section. It was an insightful learning experience.
- How has Aegis adapted to the school’s closure? What do you see for Aegis’s future after you have graduated?
Emily: Aegis is always struggling to get submissions and promotions whether we’re in school or not. Like Mandy said, I expect a lot of people have been lacking creativity and the motivation to make art due to the stress and difficulty of these times, I certainly have. I stressed every possible outlet I had to try to promote an online Spring Issue but it doesn’t seem to be working. At the beginning I sent some prompts to Mrs. Collins, our advisor, to give to her creative writing class and I tried posting some readings and prompts on the Aegis Instagram. If we were in school, the editors and I could be doing activities with the staff and a lot of their work would be submitted directly at the meetings. Now that we don’t have direct contact with the staff, it’s more difficult to encourage them to submit. We posted what we have on the Ledger website, but we still hope to get a more bound issue out in June with the theme “In the City in Paradise.” Dale, Adelaide, and Maeve, our editors in training, are all extremely artistic, innovative, and intelligent so I don’t just hope that they continue our traditions, but they also set some new ones, hopefully adding more technology into the mix and getting more of the school involved. It’s their club now and I’m so excited to see what they will do with it.
Mandy: On May second I posted about ten items on the bhsledger.com website under the folder Aegis. This lack of submissions I can only assume is due to the lack of personal inspiration, as well as our own ability as editors to spread encouragement to students to submit work personally. However, because Aegis has been added to the Ledger website., in the future I can see it being used as a promotional outlet, or otherwise just another way to share our literary magazine without sitting down to format another issue. The “website man” himself often would tease me about the day that Aegis and Ledger would merge. Now that it has happened, I’m happy that it is in a small way that works for both groups, and I hope the alliance continues in order to attract more students.
- What accomplishments during your time as BHS students are you most proud of?
Emily: There aren’t any incredibly spectacular accomplishments that I’ve made here, though I believe that I’ve blossomed into a courageous, outgoing leader not afraid to speak for herself. I was very insecure in middle school and at the beginning of high school. Being part of extracurriculars truly helped me find my people and discover what I want for myself. I was the student director for the fall play this year, and I managed the costumes for 30+ people in a Dramafest production last year, some of which had more than one. I learned to love learning and delve into projects, as well as teach others. I’m also extremely proud of every edition of Aegis I helped produce, especially Spring 2018, which was the first one I ever formatted.
Mandy: At the beginning of freshman year, I would cower in the halls. However, this year I invited a junior to my lunch table who I knew from the GSA, people thought he was new, but he was in band freshman year. He became one of my best friends’ boyfriend and I helped him gain some confidence in himself. Is this my greatest accomplishment? No, he did most of that on his own. But I’m extremely proud of the growth I’ve had throughout these four years. I am no longer a wallflower and am instead a loud, expressive voice that people actually want to follow. I am unashamedly who I am, telling the story that I want to tell.
- What are your plans for the future now that you have finished high school?
Emily: I’ll be attending Framingham State University as part of the Honor’s Program to study political science and psychology or sociology, (I don’t know, I keep switching). After that, I think I might go to Law School and then try to work my way into a government or nonprofit leadership position.
Mandy: I plan to go to University of New Hampshire as undecided. There I have already begun the process of getting involved in theatre and the marching band’s color guard. At the moment, I have looked into several journalistic, digital, and creative media programs, as well as other paths.
The Ledger thanks the Rosenbergs for their continued devotion to the paper, and wishes them the best of luck in their future endeavors.
