Compiled by Kathryn Black, ’11, The Lens Section Editor. Yet, although most girls’ visions of paradise involve dragging their begrudging fathers to spend a day shopping with them at Nordstrom, I had a different destination in mind. Staples. The mecca of all that is holy in school supplies and office equipment, otherwise known as my personal heaven.

Compiled by Jayne Caron, ’10, former The Lens Section Editor, and Kathryn Black, ’11, The Lens Section Editor. A true Stafford: I am thickheaded, unpredictable, and slightly wacky. From dressing my dog in tuxedo, to reading a book when my mom tells me. From making blowtorches to watching the travel channel. I know I am a little weird but it took me a while to come to this understanding of just how crazy my life was living in the midst of my family.

Compiled by Jayne Caron, ’10, former The Lens Section Editor, and Kathryn Black, ’11, The Lens Section Editor. Like me, David Henry Thoreau returned to the woods to see if he could live with “only the essential facts of life.” He wanted to discover what was most important by detaching himself from everyday life. Thoreau instructs each of us to take control of our own lives, to find what is important and to embrace it, to “live free and uncommitted.” I intend to.

Compiled by Jayne Caron, ’10, former The Lens Section Editor, and Kathryn Black, ’11, The Lens Section Editor. The last adjective I would have used to describe myself is “outdoorsy.” I certainly would have never thought of a walk in the woods as an enjoyable activity. Nevertheless, over the course of my freshman year, I spent hours walking through the woods hunting for plants, hoping to chip away at the 100-speciman mandate that was Miss Arbona’s dreaded plant project. It was rite of passage that spanned the entire freshman year.