Like so many authors, Brendan Shay Basham knows much of the writing process is revision. And, as he told an engaged assembly audience, the road to self-discovery can take a similar path.

“If consciousness is the story that we tell ourselves about ourselves, then we have plenty of time for revision — to revise our story, to look at ourselves in new ways, to look at the world in new ways,” he said.

Basham’s debut novel “Swim Home to the Vanished” draws on his real-life experiences as a chef, dealing with the grief that comes with loss and mental health. In his assembly remarks and subsequent lunchtime Q&A, Basham shared the moments of his life that made him pause, reflect and revise his way of thinking.

Born to a white father and a Navajo mother, Basham had always been told the meaning of his Tó Ts’ohnii heritage was “big water.” He said he took that to heart, feeling as though he needed to live near large bodies of water “in order to feel like himself.” It wasn’t until later in life that an aunt explained the English translation of the name had distorted the actual meaning — “expansive water.”

“There’s something about how language and translation and transliteration can throw us off. That kind of definition, being defined by another, being pushed to margins,” he said.

This subtle, but powerful piece of knowledge presented a new way for Basham to reflect on his life — his years behind a cookline, the many places he’d called home and the passing of his brother — revising his personal story while creating art in different forms.

“This is my expansive water. It looks like chaos. But that’s kind of what water is, isn’t it? It’s kind of chaotic and it’s unpredictable,” Basham says of his writing and artistic pursuits.

Basham also spoke on the topic of mental health, sharing that he was recently diagnosed and with bipolar disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He reflected on his time as a chef, crediting the way his brain works for his success in the kitchen.  

“ADHD is not a disorder, it’s a different way of seeing the world, it’s truly a superpower,” he said. “When I’m a chef, I have six pans on the saute station, I’ve got stuff on the grill, I’ve got stuff in the fryer, something smoking in the oven, something braising in the other oven. I’m screaming at my cooks, dancing with my dishwasher. I’m screaming at the front house staff and my business partner and I can do this all at the same time.”

As Basham met with several dozen students for a Q&A session one asked, “If life is about revisiting and reshaping your own personal narrative and your life, can stories have a proper conclusion?”

“It’s cyclical,” Basham said. “I don’t think it has to end. I think it depends on your culture, how we are raised and what you believe in. If you think that a story has an end, then you’ve stopped growing.”

Malaria killed an estimated 608,000 people worldwide in 2022 and sickened some 249 million more. With globalization and climate change — and the presence of potentially disease-carrying mosquitoes — malaria may even make a comeback in North America, where it was considered eradicated in 1951.

Now Exeter students have joined research efforts aimed at fighting the global spread of malaria, which has no cure. In a new biology course developed by Science Instructors Shimaa Ghazal and Anne Rankin ’92, and taught by Ghazal, students succeeded in mapping a full genome sequence for a strain of the mosquito species Anopheles gambiae, a leading host for the parasite that causes malaria. The results of their efforts were published in GenBank, the National Institutes of Health’s annotated database of publicly available DNA sequences.

To carry out this real-world research, Ghazal, who has a doctorate in microbial genetics, and her students collaborated with laboratories run by Dr. Seung Kim ’81 at Stanford and Dr. Michael Povelones at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Called PEA_Agam_2022 (short for Phillips Exeter Academy, Anopheles gambiae, winter 2022), the newly mapped genome is one of only seven for Anopheles gambiae that are published in GenBank and the first to be published by a high school. By studying the different strains of Anopheles gambiae and pinpointing genetic material that makes the mosquitoes better or worse at carrying the disease, scientists hope to develop more effective insecticides and — one day — breed mosquitoes that are resistant to carrying malaria.

In addition to the complex “wet lab” work involved in preparing the snippets of mosquito DNA for sequencing, students read and discussed journalist Sonia Shah’s book The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years. “We wanted to put the disease into a broader context, and broaden the students’ understanding,” Rankin says. “We sequenced a genome, but we did not just sequence a genome. We learned a lot about the context of malaria in different parts of the world, and the way it has influenced human history.”

The “malaria course,” offered in the winter term 2022, will return this spring as BIO650: Exploring Bioinformatics and Next-Generation Sequencing. Building on the model of Exeter’s popular “fruit fly course,” part of a collaboration with Kim’s lab at Stanford since 2012, BIO650 will also introduce students to the growing interdisciplinary field of bioinformatics, which applies computer technology to understand biological data and information.

Diego Ardura will be the head coach of the girls varsity soccer program, effective at the end of the season, the Exeter Athletics Department announced. Ardura, who currently serves as co-head coach of the program alongside Alexa Caldwell, served as an assistant with the program for two years before being named co-head coach and, now, head coach of the program.

“Coach Diego demonstrates a superb ability to connect with, challenge, and educate students,” said Director of Physical Education and Athletics Jason Baseden. “He is passionate, excitable, and incredibly knowledgeable about the sport, he is an impact-maker on our campus, and we’re looking forward to him continuing to work with our students and leaving his mark on the program.”

Ardura arrived on campus in 2019 and serves as an instructor in the Modern Languages Department. Prior to Exeter, Ardura taught and coached soccer at the Hotchkiss School.

“I am both humbled and very excited to be named as head coach of the girls varsity soccer program,” said Ardura. “Being a teacher and coach at Phillips Exeter is a dream come true. I have been very fortunate to work alongside and learn from great coaches like Alexa Caldwell and Kerry McBrearty. I am also thankful to Jason Baseden for his mentorship over the years.”

“It is with so much comfort that I leave the program in Diego’s hands,” said Caldwell, who has been at the helm of the program for seven seasons. “The program has such a bright future with his energy, enthusiasm, and knowledge of the game.” 

Coach Ardura was born and raised in Spain, where he grew up playing soccer from a very young age. After a few years in his home club, he was recruited by Real Oviedo FC, a professional football academy in northern Spain. He has taught Spanish and coached varsity soccer for more than 10 years at independent schools.

“Being born and raised in Spain makes me appreciate what a unique opportunity it is to be a student-athlete even more,” Ardura said. “Our girls varsity soccer team wants to be the type of program that has very curious, academically motivated students who love playing soccer and competing. I strongly believe that being a great student makes you a better soccer player, and vice versa.”

In addition to coaching for Big Red, Ardura also coaches at Seacoast United FC and holds a USSF National C Coaching License and an Advanced National Diploma. He lives on campus with his wife, Dr. Joyce, and his three children, Anna Valeria, Sofía and Mateo.

Monica Guzman never said the word Harkness during her assembly address last month, nor does she ever mention the term in her acclaimed book “I Never Thought of It That Way,” but her messages in both resound with familiarity for anyone who has ever sat around a table.

“One of the things that’s going to help save our democracy is to get curious about people, with people,” Guzman told her Exeter audience.

A Mexican immigrant and dual U.S./Mexico citizen, Guzman came to the United States when she was 6. She grew up in Dover, New Hampshire, and lives in Seattle with her husband and two children, a proud liberal daughter of conservative parents. That family dynamic is the foundation of her book and the inspiration for its title. “’I never thought of it that way’ is a phrase you say when some insight, from someone else’s perspective, has crossed that chasm between two human beings and maybe landed with you.”

Watch Monica Guzman’s assembly address

Much of Guzman’s messages — listening to understand, not to respond; learning the roots of differing perspectives — parallel the values of Exeter’s Harkness pedagogy. Principal Rawson spoke about those values in the pages of The Exeter Bulletin when he arrived on campus in 2018 and has leaned on them ever since.

“We need less talking at each other, more listening to learn from each other rather than to judge or apply labels, and more effort to reach a common understanding around our problems. Harkness makes room for that. At Exeter, we have the chance to realize that our differences, and different perspectives, can be the very things that make life exciting. Our differences are how we express our common humanity. Understanding that — valuing it — is what I think Harkness drives us toward.”

Guzman told assembly that without connecting with people with differing perspectives, “whoever is under-represented in our life is going to be over-represented in our imagination. And our imaginations are not a great source of truth. They are where anxiety starts to fill in the blanks.

“The solution, as much as one can sum one up, is bridge-building. Looking for moments, having ways, to check your imagination with reality, by traversing what can feel like an impossible gap. This can be really, really hard to do, but the way that you begin to do it is just about yourself, questioning your own assumptions.”

Guzman’s book was the Exeter faculty’s common read over the summer. Her assembly will serve as an inspiration for students’ Core Value Project proposals this fall to encourage curious conversations and perspective sharing.

Guzman described a “vicious cycle” in today’s society “where you judge each other more while you’re engaging each other less. What that means is that the judgments you make rely more and more on the signals you get from media, from those who agree with you and less and less on the actual source: The minds and hearts of people who disagree with you.”

Amid a September heat wave, Exeter students and faculty gathered on Friday morning to celebrate the opening of the Academy’s 243^rd academic year.

“Wherever you have come from, and whatever your prior experiences might have been, you have demonstrated abilities and qualities that will enable you to contribute and thrive here,” Principal Bill Rawson ’71; P’08 told the assembled students in his formal opening remarks. “You have earned your places at Phillips Exeter Academy.”

Watch a full recording of Opening Assembly

Before Rawson’s speech, students gave a rousing ovation to Exeter’s current faculty members as they filed into the hall. Next came a procession of students bearing flags from the 39 nations represented among Exeter’s student body, as well as the Cherokee Nation, Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Osage and United Sioux Tribes. Each placed their flag at the back of the stage, where Rawson and Dean of Faculty Eimer Page sat alongside some of Exeter’s longest-serving instructors and this year’s new faculty members, whom Page introduced during the ceremony.

The annual meeting returned to the Assembly Hall for the first time since 2019, with students and faculty packing the historic space and spilling out into the hallways. In attempts to mitigate the effects of heat and humidity, the shades were drawn, water was provided in multiple locations and students and faculty received cardstock programs that doubled as personal fans. Members of Exeter’s emeriti faculty, who typically join the group onstage during opening assemblies, watched remotely from the Hahn Room in the Thompson Field House.

In welcoming both new and returning students, Rawson challenged them to take full advantage of the opportunities that await them this year, whether in academics, athletics, the arts or community service. “You will have to make choices, but the opportunities are there for you, and your engagement will be an important part of your life at Exeter,” he said.

Part of that engagement, Rawson stressed, would be asking and answering tough questions like: “What do you want to study? How do you want to contribute to the life of our school?  What kind of presence do you want to have in your dorms, classrooms, teams, clubs, and other student activities? What kind of student leaders do you want to be?  What kind of person do you want to be?”

“Your answers will shape your learning and growth and determine the impact that you will have on our school during your time here,” Rawson said.

Later in his remarks, Rawson returned to the theme of Exeter’s diverse community, which he called a “defining strength” of the school. “To realize fully the opportunities through Harkness to learn with and from each other, we must commit fully to diversity of thought and free expression,” he stressed. “Robust debate and free intellectual inquiry are fundamental to our educational method and mission, just as free expression is a pillar of a healthy democracy.”

“I can’t wait to see all that you will do and accomplish,” Rawson concluded. “I will be there along the way, with your teachers, advisers and other mentors, applauding from the audience, cheering from the sidelines, and supporting you in other ways as best I can.”

Jaylen Bennett ’25 has earned many accolades for his performance on the track and is adding quite an honor this weekend as he has been selected to bear the national flag for St. Kitts and Nevis during the opening ceremony of The Trinbago 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games, taking place at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

This is not the first time that Bennett has represented St. Kitts and Nevis as the speedster captured a silver medal at the 2023 Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) Games in the U17 section in the 400-meters.

“I found out at the end of the indoor season that I would be able compete for the national team,” said Bennett. “I knew it was a possibility but I did not fully expect it. I felt pretty proud to win a medal for St. Kitts, especially because we’re a smaller country. It was fun to be introduced on the podium and hear people cheering for us.”

Bennett’s father, Marvin, who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Big Red track and field program competed for St. Kitts and Nevis at the CARIFTA Games when he was Jaylen’s age.

“Winning a medal did not really sink in until my dad was talking about having flashbacks about his time competing at the CARIFTA Games, it put it in a different perspective. It’s nice to follow in his footsteps.”

Bennett is no stranger to tough competition in his young Big Red career, having competed in the 60 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, and teamed up with Byron Grevious ’24, Owen Dudley ’23, and Oliver Brandes ’23 to finish fourth place and earn All-American status in the distance medley relay with a time of 10:11.63 at New Balance Indoor Nationals this past winter. Bennett also competed and turned in top-30 finishes in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters at Nike Outdoor Nationals this past spring and finished 4^th overall and 5^th overall in the 400 meters and 200 meters, respectively this summer at the AAU National Club Championship in Orlando.

“The atmosphere at the CARIFTA Games was different, there was a lot more music and drums in the stands, it was probably the biggest meet I’ve been to. There was an opening ceremony with all the athletes from the competing countries, and after every finals heat there was a lot of cheering, medal ceremonies, and victory laps. You could hear the crowd from everywhere, it was a really cool experience.”

While winning a medal at the CARIFTA Games was memorable, a clerical error in the results of the 200 meters created a situation that Bennett will never forget. Bennett was not made aware that he qualified for the championship finals heat in the 200 meters until the participants were introduced on the track moments before the start. This led to Bennett running the last event of the night, by himself, during the closing ceremonies.

“Once the situation was figured out, the officials gave me the option to run by myself. I took my time, got myself warm, and they cleared the track of all the athletes from all the countries. All of the athletes were right on the side of the track and they were all cheering for me – athletes from all countries.”

Bennett, who has already established eight Big Red records between the indoor and outdoor seasons, missed out on a medal in the event by .04 seconds, but running on that stage, with no competitors in the adjacent lanes, was the ultimate example in strength and determination.

The opening ceremonies for the Trinbago 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games, which will feature events in track and field, swimming and diving, beach volleyball, road cycling, track cycling, triathlon, netball, and rugby sevens, will be held on August 4^th where Jaylen will lead his teammates while carrying the national flag. He will be competing in the 400 meters, 4×100 relay, and 4×400 relay.

When the Academy celebrates 55 years of the Afro-Latinx Exonian Society in October, the event will include plenty of PEA alumni star power.

Dr. Emery Brown ’74, one of the world’s leading physician-scientists in the field of anesthesiology, and John Forte ’93, a hip-hop music luminary, will be among the graduates returning to campus to help remember the club’s founding and its impact on the institution over the past half-century.

Trustees Wole Coaxum ’88 and Paulina Jerez ’91 will serve as hosts of the weekend-long celebration Oct. 27-28 that will also include remarks from Principal Bill Rawson ’71, an alumni panel, an oral history and other programming.

Brown, the 2020 John and Elizabeth Phillips Award winner, will deliver the event’s keynote address. Brown received a degree in applied mathematics from Harvard before earning a doctorate in statistics along with a medical degree at Harvard Medical School. Over his career, he has practiced as an anesthesiologist, studied neuroscience and published more than 400 original papers, inventing and patenting landmark scientific and medical technologies. He teaches medical engineering and computational neuroscience at MIT, as well as anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School. He is the only person to hold simultaneous endowed chairs at both of these institutions. Brown is one of only 25 people — and the first African American, the first statistician and the first anesthesiologist — elected to all three branches of the National Academies: Medicine, Sciences and Engineering.

Forte went to New York University after Exeter, promptly finding a place in an evolving alternative hip-hop music scene in the city. Forte rose to prominence through collaboration with The Fugees on their seminal album The Score, but his music career was derailed in 2000 when he was arrested and later convicted on drug charges. His federal sentence was commuted by President George W. Bush in 2008. Forte’s story is one of redemption and resolve, however. Along with relaunching a successful music career, Forte became an advocate for at-risk youth and criminal justice reform. Eight years after delivering an address in Exeter’s 2015 MLK Jr. Day observance, Forte will return to an Academy stage to perform and share his story.

Other programming includes an alumni panel made up of Mark McClain ’74, Jackie Hayes ’85, Leroy Sims ’97, Claudia Cruz ’96 and Veronica Juarez ’00 and moderated by Russell Weatherspoon, dean of students.