Nora Curran ’10

I woke up this morning at 6:00 AM to the great sound of my mother’s voice mixed with the lovely ringing alarm on my cell phone. I was so tired due to the fact that I went to bed at 1:00 AM, making for only five hours of sleep. My mom told me a couple days before that I would be reading The Polar Express to a group of special needs students at her school. I was pretty excited but I was wondering what I was going to do the rest of the day. When we got there we ate breakfast and I met a bunch of the faculty and then I went down to meet the teacher in charge of the students I was reading to. I went down ready to read to the kids and that is exactly what I did. Every time I looked up I could see their bright smiling faces, knowing that they were thinking about Christmas just as much as I was. When it came to the end of the story, one student asked me to stay to watch the movie of the Polar Express and I said I would come back in about a half an hour. When I came back they were watching Home Alone, and I sat between two kids, one who asked me about all the malls I had ever been too and the other one about the movie. I sat there and every time something even a tiny bit funny happened in the movie I heard the overwhelming laughter of the kids and I felt happy myself inside.

I loved being around that much happiness, so I stayed in that room for most of the day instead of having my dad come pick me up halfway through the day like I was planning before I met the kids. Those kids began to show me how the little things really do matter and happiness can come from different things, whether they are from inside yourself or outside. I saw how those kids’ smiles made me smile and feel like I meant something to them. I’d say it was my best day so far during vacation. I got to do something meaningful and bring happiness to people other than myself with a side benefit of making myself feel good as well.

Nora Curran ‘10

Nora Curran confers with Erik Kapitulik during Judgement Day.

Hi, my name is Nora Curran, I’m 17 years old, from Cambridge, MA. I am a senior and I have gone to Hyde for all four years of my high school career.

I expected this year to be hard, but I was never informed that I would be screaming at my Head of School and Dean of Students to be quiet and listen to me, all while they were carrying logs above their heads.  I am talking about “Judgment Day”.  It started out as a lovely sunny day in pre-season.  Then the seniors were told that we were not going to sports practice in the afternoon and instead, we were all to meet in the lecture hall at 1:00 PM.  We had no idea what we were in for.  After an introduction about the opportunity ahead of us, we went out to the field and were immediately yelled at by these big ex-military guys.  None of us were in good moods anymore.  One by one, Mr. Kapitulik, the head instructor of “The Program,” called on different seniors to lead the group.  Suddenly he pointed at me, asked my name, and told me to get everyone back from our break in two minutes.  I did.  Then he told me to get everyone to be silent and start carrying 35 pound bags from one end of the field to the other, while the other half of the class and faculty picked up and carried giant logs, putting them over their heads, sitting down with them, doing sit-ups, and then standing back up.  All while carrying the logs!  Now, I am not one for being a loud type of leader but in that situation my voice finally burst out demanding, “EVERYONE BE QUIET!!”  They listened.  Finally, they listened to me. After that day I knew what I could do and so did my senior class.  They were able to see me like they had never seen me before and I was so excited for that opportunity to start off my senior year.

Nora Curran, Class of 2010

For more information on Nora’s experience with Hyde’s “Judgment Day” go to: http://wolfpack.hyde.edu/2009/09/03/news/judgment-day-comes-to-woodstock/.

For more information on “The Program” go to: http://theprogramathletics.com/index.htm.

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