GREYSTOCK MAGAZINEThe Student Magazine of Church Farm School

JEREMY SHIELDS `16 STEFANIE CLAYPOOLEEditor-in-Chief Faculty Advisor

EDWARD KIM `16 MICHAEL SEAMANSLayout and Design Photography

Copyright © 2015 Church Farm School. All rights reserved. The works or opinions ex-pressed in this periodical do not necessarily reflect the views of Church Farm School, its faculty, staff, or administration, and are the sole, creative works of their authors.

Editor’s Letter

In recent years it seems that the publication schedule for Greystock Magazine has become somewhat unpredictable. Every other issue or so seems to enter a developmental twilight zone: will we publish this month? Should we hold off until there are more submissions? Would it make more sense to publish at the beginning of next year instead?

This first issue of the 2015-2016 academic year reflects the fruits of a magazine that is just about free of those growing pains. It’s only been a year since we switched to digital format and already we’re returning to our hardcopy roots; nonetheless, these aesthetic adjust-ments have served not only to inspire us cre-atively, but also to cement a fundamental work ethic and style that will continue to thrive long

after their progenitors are gone. Although its appearance or publication medium might vary, Greystock Magazine has reached a level of inter-nal maturity that, from an editor’s perspective, cannot be undervalued.

In equal measure, this issue reflects on the CFS community in terms of our personal sen-timents, artistic expressions, poetic musings and everything in between—with a theme like Reflections, the creative possibilities were end-less and the submissions uniquely intimate. As you read this introspective entry of our literary archive, we hope that you will consider all of the dedicated hours it took for us to hit our stride and appreciate not only the quality of the contributions, but also the workmanship—authorial and editorial—they reflect.

This issue reflects on the CFS community in terms of our personal sentiments, artistic expressions, poetic musings and everything in between.

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Jeremy Shields ‘16Editor-in-Chief, Greystock Magazine

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One Hit Wonders 5Devils and Angels 6Q&A with Jeremy Shields 7School vs. Gaming 9Facade 10One Theme, Two Views 11Hydra 21

Contents

PHOTOGRAPH Michael Seamans

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One Hit WondersPOEM Michael Sweat

You get oneOne shotOne chance toDo youMiss itAnd you’ll neverHave anotherOpportunityTo rap fluentlySpeak truthfullySoWhen in AfricaRight?It’s no time to fightWe’re told we’re brightAnd that’s all rightBut if we neverFly togetherLike birds of a featherThen for successThe odds are not the bestWe are a generation

Of one hit wondersWhen we walk togetherGround can breakWe only need one timeTo shineOne good videoOne good speechaPeople raveWhen we sayWhat they craveThey go and tellEveryone whether weAre worth the quellWorth the timeTo investSee if we’re the bestThey have talent sharp as swordsFamous last wordsI told youWe’reOne Hit Wonders

We are a generation of one hit wonders.

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6ILLUSTRATION “Devils and Angels” Mohammed Emun

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Editor SpotlightINTERVIEWER Mr. Robert Warfel

A Q&A with Jeremy Shields, Editor-in-Chief

MR. BOB WARFEL (BW): Why are you obsessed with winning Scrabble?JEREMY SHIELDS (JS): If there is one game that I’m good at, it’s Scrabble. It’s rare that I have something to excel in when it comes to competition, even in things I enjoy like video games or oth-er board games. In those arenas, I enter with an attitude of “Wouldn’t it be great if I won?” In Scrabble, unless I’m in a non-competitive mood, the attitude is more along the lines of “Wouldn’t it sting if I lost?”

BW: What do you love about reading?JS: When I read a book that I really invest myself in, I do so for two reasons: one, the plot is clever enough to keep me guessing until the end, and two, I am expanding my exposure to the wide breadth of liter-ary genres with every book I read. One of the most potent pieces of advice that I’ve ever heard for aspiring writers is that they should absorb a diverse array of writing styles, which allows them to develop a

unique writing style of their own. I believe that every time I read a new book or au-thor, I am acquiring new skills and becom-ing a more informed writer.

BW: Is “being smart” part of your own self-identity?JS: When I consider this question, I won-der what it would be like for me to enter an environment, let’s say college, where I am no longer uniquely knowledgeable in one subject or another—where in every field in which I pride myself today, I am matched or exceeded by my peers. Would I go through some kind of identity crisis if I fell lower in the ranks? The answer is no; I know I am “smart,” however you choose to define it, no matter how smart others may be as well. If it were a part of my self-identity, not the identity that others have associated with me, I believe I would feel somehow offended or disappointed if someone could do “me” better than me.

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BW: What does your life at CFS look like in your head?JS: I don’t like to look at anything in a humdrum way; rather than opt for “nothing special” when someone asks me how my day was, I try to look at every event from an exciting angle. By going through my day this way, there have been times when I’ve likened my life at CFS to a sitcom: whether it’s in my cottage or during the school day, there always seems to be something going on at CFS, and if I can imagine it in a positive light, I can find a way to laugh about it.

“There have been times when I’ve likened my life at CFS to a sitcom.”JEREMY SHIELDS

Jeremy Shields with fellow Honor Council member, Andrew Richards, and faculty advisor Ms. Rabi Young.

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ABOVE “Facade” Mohammed EmunLEFT “School vs. Gaming” Austin Johnson

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WORDS Mohammed Emun, Wendy Roberts, Jeremy Shields, Stefanie Claypoole, Andrew Richards, Robert Warfel, Hamzah Qureshi, Zachary Roberts

Same as It Never WasWORDS Dr. Wendy Roberts

Then:To do things as they’ve always been doneWithout finding meaning in it seemed dumbTo recite empty pledges made me feel hollowIf my ancestors knew what I did, would they still follow?

Then again:When in Rome, do as the Romans doWhat is culture if not tradition? It’s trueCulture is everything interesting about us from games to music to the food we eatTradition is comfort and connection across the world and centuries

Then again again:I want to set traditions to help my kids feel connected

But I know as they grow, my traditions will be rejectedRather than keep them for me, I hope through reflection my traditions are put on the shelfPerhaps setting our own traditions is a tradition in itself.

Tradition Does Not Equal FaithWORDS Mohammed Emun

Tradition and religion go hand in hand. They’re supposed to bring peace across the land.But they don’t, they bring deadly wars. Everyone’s fighting as if God’s keeping score.

I on the other hand don’t always believe.Parents forcing religion and tradition, to make me conceive. Can’t speak up, cause the fam won’t

A collection of perspectives on our daily lives

FEATURE

PHOTOGRAPHS Stephen Zarycranski

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accept me.So I got to put on an act as if I agree.

If I don’t believe, why do I eat the Halal meat? ‘Cause I love my family so now I’m beat.Stay with the fam or stand alone? Go to the mosque and atone?!

For what? Something I don’t agree with.Something that I think is only a myth? But…ya got to do what ya got to do.Boy, all the stress, if you only knew.

Then again, there are those actual days. Where tradition and religion is what I praise.It can really be beautiful if you look at its heart.Because that, my friends, is the important part.

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ONE TOPIC, TWO VIEWS

A Judge’s PerspectiveWORDS Stefanie Claypoole

There was perhaps no one on campus more excited than I was when Mr. Bob Warfel announced the school’s first Spell-ing Bee. When you are young, praise for your intellectual, athletic or emotional gifts is often doled out extravagantly. I mean, I give my son high fives for achieve-ments as minute as putting his smelly socks in the laundry basket. Once you hit your late 20s or 30s, however, it is more common to be reminded of your missteps than your triumphs. Spelling is something that, for one reason or another, has always been an innate gift for me. I was going to kill this competition, I thought, and be lav-ished with praise that hadn’t met my ears in a long, long time. Imagine my sadness

when Mr. Warfel suggested I would be better as a judge than a speller. You know what? He was right. On many levels.

1. I don’t enjoy being in front of large audi-ences. Possible panic attack averted. 2. Good grammar and spelling is part of my job description. Imagine if I’d botched the competition in front of the entire school? 3. I would not have been able to expe-rience the elation of rooting FOR our students, as I would have been too busy trying to take them down.

Number 3 is really the critical factor here. To say I was impressed with the stu-dents and adults who participated—Saaif Ahmed, Donald Albritton, Uche Egonu, Branden Hughes-Vaughan, Akolam ards, Jeremy Shields, Dawrin Silfa, Eddie

To Bee or Not to Bee

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Teah and Judah Wilson plus Mr. Aaron Schnittman and Mr. Zach Roberts—would be a huge understatement. These young men tackled words that continue to trip me up at the ripe old age of 40 and I’ve likely read thousands more books than them (except maybe Jeremy; he is giving me a run for my money in the reading department).

The finals were intense. Exciting. And I don’t think this was the case just for the logophiles in attendance (including my fellow judges Ms. Stephanie Heerschap, Ms. Rabi Young and Ms. Dianne Hughes). I could see the audience reacting with sin-cere enthusiasm, too. When it came down to the final two competitors—Jeremy and Andrew—both knew they were winners, even if Andrew ultimately took the top prize. They’d made it through more than 30 tough rounds over two days, spelling words they had studied—concessionaire, furlough, schizophrenia, ophthalmolo-gy—and words they had not—bureaucrat, cantankerous, chrysanthemum.

I am thankful to Mr. Warfel for organiz-ing an event that engaged our students to practice spelling. I continue to worry in the age of spellcheck and texting and so-cial media that spelling and grammar are becoming a lost, or underappreciated, art. The Spelling Bee proved to me that people DO still care, and that for me, participat-ing as a judge was a much better prize than winning a trophy would ever have been.

PHOTOGRAPH CFS File Photo

“They’d made it through more than 30 tough rounds over two days, spelling words they had studied—concessionaire, furlough, schizophrenia, ophthalmol-ogy—and words they had not—bureaucrat, cantan-kerous, chrysanthemum.”STEFANIE CLAYPOOLE

A Student’s PerspectiveWORDS Andrew Richards

When I heard that Mr. Bob Warfel was host-ing the inaugural CFS Spelling Bee, my first thought was: “Hey, this looks interesting, why don’t I try it out?” But I was initially hesitant to sign up for two reasons: one, I had this exaggerated, preconceived notion that spelling bees are just hellish

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ONE TOPIC, TWO VIEWS

competitions in which the participants are forced to study long, complex words and recite them letter-by-letter under intense pressure from the judge and the audience. Two, I quickly discovered that there were some pretty tough, sincere student (and teacher!) competitors. Despite my trivial concerns, I decided to do it for the sake of a new experience.

As soon as Mr. Warfel emailed the list of words, I immediately knew that this would be a challenging competition. A few of the words were familiar, like “unanswer-able” or “nurture.” However, the list had its fair share of intricate words that I had never heard of, such as “baccalaureate,” “schizophrenia,” “nomenclature” and “tonsillectomy.” In the time between the announcement of the spelling bee and the

TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE

“I was surprised to be one of the remaining partici-pants moving on to the finals. That’s when I realized I wanted to win this competition.”

ANDREW RICHARDS

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preliminary rounds, I decided to be effi-cient and utilize my free time to study the words. For example, if I finished my work early, I would take a quick peek at the list and memorize at least 10 words if I could.

In the preliminaries, I remember feeling quite nervous and saying to myself, “I don’t care if I win, I just want to get to the finals.” After what seemed like hours of spelling, I was surprised to be one of the remaining participants moving on to the finals. That’s when I realized I wanted to win this competition.

In the final round, the remaining contes-tants received additional advanced words, which were even more perplexing than the originals. Still, my strategy remained the same: use my free time to study and study hard.

Wednesday. Eighth Period. Perspiration poured in streams down my face. Butter-flies were dancing in my stomach. The crowd seemed overwhelming.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating. It wasn’t that intense.

Still, my heart was pounding. It was my turn first and Mr. Warfel gave the word: “acidulous.”

“Acidulous—A-C-I-D-U-L-O-U-S.”

Ms. Claypoole said it was correct and the crowd applauded. My heart erupted with joy. As the time passed, each challenger left the stage one by one.

Eventually two competitors were left: Jeremy Shields and me. The real challenge was about to begin. At this point, Mr. Warfel had run out of words and started giving us words that were not on the list. I don’t think either of us was completely prepared for the words that were to come.

One of my words was “chrysanthemum,” which was the only word I passed. Looking back now, I probably could have spelled it correctly, but I think I was too nervous to do so. My winning word was “deciduous.” Don’t ask me how I managed to spell it. As vague as it sounds, I just kind of took an educated guess. Anyway, the remaining audience applauded for us and then we shook hands.

Honestly, I have to congratulate all of my peers and the entire faculty that had par-ticipated for their effort. I laud them for being courageous to stand on the stage of Alumni Hall and perform well. The same goes for those who didn’t make it past the preliminaries. I especially congratulate Jeremy Shields, who was the toughest challenger out there. To be quite frank, if it weren’t for the fact that Mr. Warfel had used words apart from the list, I think the competition would still be going on.

In the end, I still find it funny how I origi-nally planned to participate in the spelling bee casually, and then actually ended up winning the whole competition. It was a grand experience (and I am extremely grateful toward Mr. Warfel and the judges for it) and one I will remember for the rest of my life.

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ONE TOPIC, TWO VIEWS

What Garrett Means to MeThe Cottage Parent’s ViewWORDS Zachary Roberts

For the visitor of Garrett Cottage, one sees the well-placed artwork, the glitter-ing banners hanging in the back stairwell, the thick, luxurious carpets in the hallway and living room and the foreboding statue of Otis, the owl, keeping watch from the front stairwell’s windowsill. Certainly, Garrett’s warm lamplight, sweet-smell-ing room fresheners and all the plant-life spread throughout the rooms lend a quali-ty of good taste and class as well, but each of these things mentioned above could be found in a nice hotel or retreat center—and Garrett is, without a doubt, more than a hotel. For, at its very foundation, and in each of its functions, Garrett is home. When I first arrived at Church Farm School, this wasn’t the case. We would have been generous to call Garrett a “dormitory,” and that is in the loosest sense of the word. Its appearance was bleak, and the residents thereof treated it as such. Garrett was a “mind-your-own-business” kind of place, and I doubt any one of its residents would have called Garrett a “home away from home.” It was consistently filthy. What few pictures or wall hangings there were, had been strewn across the walls in no particular order, and the kitchen really needed a “take-your-life-into-your-own-hands-by-entering” sign on the door. Nonetheless, I requested to be

head cottage parent there at the end of my first year. I had worked between Woodside and Garrett for that 2011-2012 school year, and I knew all of the skeletons in Garrett’s closets—though I looked forward to the challenge of making it a home—for both my students and myself. Fast-forward nearly four years. When my students are away for an extended vaca-tion and the quiet sets in, the deafening silence reminds me that Garrett’s life comes not from its furnishings but from its residents. When Duane and Zeeshan help plant flowers out front, they breathe life into Garrett. When Mr. Fulmer plays Jeopardy with everyone and Ms. Young brings hot cinnamon rolls, they breathe life into the cottage, too. When James and Myles sneak out at one A.M. to shower, or when Tristan dresses up like Mrs. Claus, each one is breathing life into Garrett. When Aaron sings—be it Motown, Broad-way show tunes or hip-hop—he breathes life into Garrett. Likewise, when Mr. Marshall and Zikang sit down, late at night, to enjoy a cup of Chinese tea, they breathe life into our cottage. And, when Muzhi emerges from his room to take part in a “Garrett Game,” when John, hoping for “kills,” lifts the lid on a boiling pot to see what’s cooking or when Jeremy “gets hype,” they each breathe life into Garrett. When Kris’s high-pitched squeal of a laugh bounces down the halls or Edward snaps a rubber glove onto his hand to perform sur-

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surgery on the bathroom chore, they breathe life into Garrett as well. And, when Abed-nego and Ben are the first to volunteer for an activity, their willingness breathes life into Garrett. When Jimmy struts down the hall in his camouflage bathrobe, or Geno dons his animal-face hat—complete with ears on top, they breathe life into Garrett. Likewise, when Hamzah comes into my living room to talk about God, he breathes life into Garrett. And, when Branden’s rendition of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” booms through the halls, as it has since he was a freshman in Garrett, he breathes life into our cottage.

Cottage chemistry changes over time, as is necessary because of the change in students. But for this fleeting season of life, the answer to what this cottage means to me is simple: Garrett is my home, and its residents are my family. I believe, someday, my students will look within a special part of their hearts and realize they were never quite so unique-ly happy as they were in this little cottage dormitory named Garrett. I know it’s true for me.

“Garrett is my home, and its residents are my family.”ZACHARY ROBERTS

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The Student’s ViewWORDS Hamzah Qureshi

Garrett is my anchor. This cottage has been my home for two years now and, from the very beginning, has been a place where I can truly be myself. Whether it’s after failing a biology exam, losing hor-ribly against our rival school in a tennis match or even returning on a Sunday after a stressful weekend at home, walking into the cottage makes me feel at peace. The environment in Garrett is one that allows

me to shake off whatever troubling prob-lems exist outside and simply enjoy the company of peers and mentors in a safe, trusting and friendly atmosphere.

There are several factors that, after de-veloping over the years, have caused Garrett to be what it is today. Our fierce competitiveness in Christmas decoration contests, room inspections and highest grade point averages unite us as a team in our successes, and even more so in our failures. Furthermore, due to the harmony

ONE TOPIC, TWO VIEWS WHAT GARRETT MEANS TO ME

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found among Garretteers, we are able to do fun and interactive activities in the cottage like the Garrett Games, which involve a hands-on competition between teams on critical thinking and teamwork; the Garrett Report, which gives students the opportunity learn more in depth about influential CFS members and alumni in a talk show environment; and the Garrett Discussion Series, which allows students to converse about various controversial topics without fear of judgment or ridi-cule.

There is much more to Garrett than just these activities. The cottage is most of all a place for each and every one of its mem-bers to grow. Every year, Church Farm School students find themselves living in Garrett for the first time, and every year, all of those students bring something unique to the cottage. Though we all have our strong suits, we also lack in many ways, which means there is plenty of room

to grow. If one of our guys is struggling in a class, we all push him to do better because each individual’s performance affects the entire cottage. We all have to do well to succeed, so anyone struggling in academics has that motivation to do bet-ter. Some students may be very soft spo-ken and not involved in the community, so the Garrett Games engage them to try new things, communicate with their peers and share their opinions, thus pushing them to grow.

Garrett starts off every year as just an-other cottage, but it quickly evolves into something more meaningful. It has by now become a second family for me where I can depend on and be comfortable with every member of the cottage. Garrett cottage allows us to enjoy the benefits of a trusting, hardworking and loving commu-nity in which everyone truly appreciates his Garrett family.

END

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ILLUSTRATION “Hydra” Myles Ashitey