With the feels -like temperature reaching well over 100 degrees during the second week of school, boarding students were faced with a daunting task: staying cool.  .

“Dealing with the heat is always my least favorite part of boarding during the hot months of the year,” Lincoln Badley ‘21 said. 

Most boarders agree with Badley, including Scott Ding ‘21 

“I normally don’t mind the heat, but when it is 85 [degrees] and you are trying to study, it is hard to retain information,” he said.

Badley has found that in order to stay cool during the night he must get creative.

“I have found the best way to stay cool at night is to sleep with frozen water bottles and place them on your head,” he said.

Ding has his own method of staying cool as well,

 “At night, we just turn our fans in opposite directions which helps keep air circulating throughout the night,” he said.

Another concern besides comfort is being able to keep up with a rigorous academic schedule. 

“After school when it is hottest in the dorms I just sit and do nothing but try to stay cool,” Ding said. “I feel like I am losing time on my studies.”

Senior dean Tim Jacoby is able to see the problems with A/C and why it may not work.

“Putting in Central A/C would be very expensive throughout the building,” he said. “If we went the window unit route, not everyone could have them as it would overwhelm the power grid,” he said,

Jacoby can, however, see the benefits of a cold dorm room during the hot days.

“I think some A/C could be a huge upgrade to the dorms and may even lead to more kids wanting to board,” Jacoby said.

While many agree air conditioning is a great amenity to have during the hottest days of the year, some like Jacoby, see it as a good experience to create a mental toughness.

“I spent a year in college in an un-airconditioned dorm so I know the feeling. It is not ideal, but I am a little old school when it comes to things like that and kind of see it as a right of passage,” Jacoby said.