Schools:A student’s wonderful journey through HAFTR

Senior Matthew Maron, former editor of the HAFTR’s newspaper “The Tattler,” writes about his journey at HAFTR. He plans to attend Cornell University after spending next year in Israel.

Time is a precious commodity. We’re told to cherish it, not to delay until later. However, we don’t always follow this philosophy. Rather, through all of the tests, DBQs, APs and other schoolwork, we live our lives in this moment, as if we will never evolve to something else. We can’t see ourselves being older because here we are now.

When we came to HAFTR High School, we, as students, faced so many questions. Which classes to take, which teams to join, and quite frankly how to figure out who we were going to be for the next four years of our lives? High school is a scary prospect. Inherently, it has a major impact on our students’ futures and helps set the course of their entire life.

C.S Lewis once said, “The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.”

When we came into HAFTR, the workload at first was, well, tough. Never before had any of us been held to such academic standards; spending a couple of hours a night doing homework was not uncommon. While not all students are equally motivated to do the work required, when it came time to wake up and go to school, we walked in under the glass entrance with a smile on our face.

When we didn’t understand the material, every single teacher was willing to stay after class, sacrifice their break, and even work with us over the weekends to make sure we understood the material. When we had a problem with a homework question, we worked together as classmates, and more importantly with friends to figure it out.

Our teachers instilled in us the yearning to do well not for the grade but for the knowledge. Our Rebbeim helped us grow spiritually, whether that was in the classroom, through chesed projects, or learning with us outside of school. Last summer, one of our Rebbeim learned with the boys in our grade every Thursday night.

Our teachers didn’t care that we just knew the material, they cared that we understood it and how what we learned in the classroom could and does apply to us in our lives every single day. The success of our grade is a testament to such dedication.

Most of us have been in school with each other since the day we walked into HAFTR’s nursery program. We’ve gone to each other’s birthday parties, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, play dates, and everything in between. We’ve been there for each other in good times and bad. When we’ve had trouble in our lives, inside or outside of school, we’ve been there for each other, lending an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on.

We’ve helped others through Tomchei Shabbos, blood drives, or iShine. We’ve been a cohesive group of students, friends from beginning to end.

And now, this chapter in our lives winds down. In a few days, we will no longer be HAFTR students. No longer will we have to endure the temperature extremes that make up HAFTR’s heating/air conditioning system. No longer will we hear the familiar shout of “Arlette!” in College Guidance. No longer will we be able to get Rabbi Moskowitz’s Friday cholent in the G.O. office. No longer will any of us who had Mr. and Mrs. Beck see “YBL” on the board the day after a test.

It’s a bittersweet reality. We spend so much of our lives working towards a certain goal and when we finally achieve it, we want to go back and relive the journey. When most of us look back at the people we were four years ago, we look like entirely different people.

We’ve changed, for the better. And HAFTR itself has too.

When we entered HAFTR in 2009, the school was coming off a bad break up. The school as an institution needed to rediscover what it was, what it wanted to be, just like us. Together, we’ve grown and prospered.

The school we leave now is not the one we entered. It’s more focused, renewed, and ready to help all of its students succeed. Now we part ways, some of us to spend the year in Israel, others to head off to college. However, during our time in college and beyond, students will come back to discuss college/graduate school, halachic issues, or simply just to visit their former teachers and friends. And, we’ll be welcomed with open arms for once you’ve attended HAFTR, you’re always a HAFTR student!

In retrospect, I think we are all grateful for having had the chance to attend HAFTR High School. The friends we’ve made, the experiences we’ve had together will last us for a lifetime. While the journey was tough, we’ve finally arrived at our destination.

Now, we can relax and rejoice. But soon it will be time to get ready for the journey to the next destination in our lives. We go through our lives not knowing the challenges life will bring. All we have in this journey is our past, present, and the knowledge we’ve accumulated along the way. None of us knows what the future has in store. What is certain, however, is that HAFTR has prepared us for anything we may encounter.

A version of this story first appeared in HAFTR’s “The Tattler” newspaper.