Ordinarily, the beginning of May marks the commencement of finals preparations, sky-high levels of stress, and revision into morning hours. But for this year’s seniors, who are exempt from final exams and IB testing due to COVID-19, May marks the end of formal classes and a transition period into getting ready for graduation. To help fill the time before graduation on Saturday, May 29th, Village offered seniors the chance to take “Skills for Life and College” sessions led by Village teachers that cover everything from how to file your taxes to the proper way to manage laundry as a college student. 

“Seniors, during the first two weeks of May, will be offered ‘Skills for College and Life’ sessions instead of their IB classes,” wrote Carl Newman, Director of the High School. “These will cover topics such as finances, domestic chores, relationships, academic life at college, and ways to de-stress.” 

Seniors were given the opportunity to attend sessions of their choosing, with many of them geared towards the novel college life ahead of them. 

“I attended one of the sessions that covered how to balance your monthly budget as a college student,” said Jared Zhang, a senior who attended the ‘Balancing your budget’ session. “I found it tremendously useful and quite enlightening. I never realized how many costs you have to consider as a college student.”

Many of the sessions were met with similar enthusiasm. Even more unique classes, such as “Basic cooking skills: equipment training, safety & sanitation, garde manger, cooking methods, and pan identification, shopping for food on a budget”, which was led by FLIK, allowed students to learn about how to use an assortment of knives, how to cut certain foods, and ended with students being able to make their own omelettes. 

Yoga classes, led by Denise Keeneghan, the head of the English department, taught students how to relax and rewind. Students gathered on the patio to hit a few poses. 

“It was a nice way to take a break from the other sessions and also learn more about yoga,” said Deeptha Karur, a senior who attended the “Yoga and Meditation” course. “It was interesting to learn more about the practice of both yoga and mediation, and I would highly recommend others to attend the session.” 

While this week might have been an experimental attempt at providing seniors with a little more information before graduation, high reception from students, parents, and other community members might mean Village should implement the program permanently into the curriculum.