I was at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, heading home for Christmas break in 2013, when I inevitably familiarized myself with a young Pakistani girl’s image, head covered in a pink hijab—a face that was everywhere. A few months later, I was ac-cepted to Berkshire School, and soon came the email informing me of the all-school summer reading. I am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai. Before I went home for the sum-mer, I found myself fishing in the airport’s bookstore for the vaguely familiar title, hoping to find the girl’s face gazing beyond the pages. Luckily, I did. It was a fifteen-hour straight flight from New York City to Shanghai; I got through the entire book and hardly slept. It was a mixture of pain, joy, inspiration, heartache, and wonder as I flipped through pages and pages in the dim light; dropping it, closing my eyes, and have countless images, thoughts, and confusions flashing through my brain. I had to pick it up again: it demanded to be read. Her youthful words flew across the world and haunted me for the summer. As a fifteen-year-old girl receiving the best education, I have not done anything nearly as meaningful with my life.

It was a chilly, foggy morning when the members of the Berkshire community gath-ered in Allen Theater to hear the presenta-tion. Three chairs were set in the middle of the stage; a young man with black hair and rimmed glasses sat on the left, a woman wearing a purple hijab was in the middle, and an elder man dressed formally sat in the right. Mati Amin ’08, Shabana Basij-Rasikh, and Don Goodrich ’61. Goodrich lost his son, Peter Goodrich ’85, in the attacks on 9/11. He spoke in a calm, weathered voice, and introduced Amin and Basij-Rasikh to the audience. They both came from Afghani-stan; one graduated from Berkshire and Wil-

News and Opinions from the Students of Berkshire School October 2014

continued on page 4

The World Around The Malalas and UsBy Maggie Zhu ‘17

“The Red Piece” by Ryan Zang, which he submitted for the All-School read Art Contest.

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Strong Showing by Cross Country BearsBy Sam Reagan

Dress The Part

On Saturday, September 20th, the Berkshire Bear Runners had yet another win. Berk-shire was one of 40 private schools attending the Canterbury Cross Country Invitational. The Bear’s cross country team is division II, but placed into the division I race on Satur-day. The girl’s team, fielding a grand total of two runners, was going up against teams with as many as twenty girls. Despite the small numbers, coaches Plant and Lloyd led both the boys and girls teams to impressive

results.Last fall Sarah Kinney, a senior, displayed her excellence at the Canterbury Invitational by finishing among the top 10, and this year she expected nothing less than top 5. Kinney spent the summer training, and it paid off. From the second the gun went off, Kinney took the lead and held onto it the whole way through. She ended up finishing with a time of 19:16 minutes, and a pace of 6:12 minutes per kilometer. Kinney not only won the

race, but she also broke her personal record, which was previously 19:39 minutes.While Berkshire did not have enough run-ners to qualify as a team, five out of seven boys finished with a time under twenty min-utes and Kinney received a personal trophy for her achievement. With two months left in the Fall season, we can expect great things from Kinney and the rest of the cross coun-try team.

Fashion is a huge part of our lives and should be treated as such. Some days fashion goes straight out the window and can feel pointless. There are some days that even I wake up, look at my closet, pick out random clothes and continue with my day normally. Every one of us has a different type of style that fits him or her individually. Matching or not matching, rainbows or monochromatic, bright or beige, can all still be fashionable, as long as you wear whatever you want with a strong sense of confidence. If you rock what you wear, then everyone will think you’re a model walking down the runway. Don’t be normal, be yourself. -Terryl Wilson

Green and Gray Point UpdateAll School Competition Initiation Cheer (15) Amazing Race (50) Boys’ Dodge Ball (25)Crop Walk for Hunger Chelsea Leads (5) Sports Matt Koopman Commitment to Northeastern (5)

All School Competitions Girls’ Dodge Ball (25)Cool Things Josiah Tolvo’s Presentation to Society for Microbiology (5) Birth of Baby Barter (10)Crop Walk for Hunger Hannah Honan (5) Yuze Zhang (10) Tucker Donelan (10)Sports Sarah Kinney First at Canterbury Invitational (5)

GrayGreen

Total: 70Total: 100Congratulations to the Barters and Welcome

to Our Newest Bear, Baby Caroline!

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This is purely an article of personal opin-ion. The All-School Read is an annual event in which all of the student body, faculty, alumni, and parents participate in the read-ing of a single book. The event culminates with several panel discussions and lectures by distinguished guests who have, in some way, a connection to the book. The All-School Read aims to promote and encourage discussion and conflicting opinions about numerous subject matters. Students should have a say in the selection of the All-School Read. Although the faculty and staff put a great deal of effort in deciding the book, I believe that by allowing students to voice their preferences, it will promote their interest in reading, and can foster tangible empowerment. The pleasure and experience of reading a book that a student

is interested in is far different from reading an assigned book. The student will not feel obligated by treating the reading as a tedious task, but instead become more interested and engaged in the reading. Secondly, the student is able to obtain a far larger amount of passion in something they feel is gratifying versus a classic selected by the school. I recently interviewed a fellow sopho-more on his thoughts about the matter. “The theme of the book we read last year (Strength In What Remains) and this year (I am Malala) are similar. It makes our read-ing experience kind of repetitive.” Zang ’17 remarks.I repeat that the purpose of the All-School Read is to showcase something of notewor-thy value; noteworthy meaning a topic that is considered current. One suggestion is for

the All-School Read committee to present the student body with several potential book choices. Subsequently, the student body may participate in a voting procedure, where the book with the most votes will in turn become the All-School Read. This can act as a measure of the student body’s interest in each respective subject matter, and here, the student body’s opinions are taken into account.All things considered, my personal view is that the selection of the All-School Read should not be decided entirely by the student body, and that the school has the right to determine it. However, students should be granted the chance to have a “say” in the se-lection process.

Students Should Have a Say in the All-School ReadBy: Ryan Zang ‘17

Tweet The Mountain

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liams College, the other from Middlebury College in Vermont. American education was a rare and precious opportunity for them; Amin and his family were greatly supported by Goodrich, and a man named Ted Achilles made Basij-Rasikh’s experience possible. Achilles, Amin, and Basij-Rasikh established the first non-profit, all girls boarding school in Afghanistan: School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA), for future generation of female leaders. “Let us move beyond having women as mere listeners and passive participants in decision-making circles.” Basij-Rasikh stated on the official website of SOLA, “Let’s listen to them not for the sake of fulfilling quotas but because it is the right and smart thing to do.”

The evening after the first presentation, I sat at the dinner table with Insha Afsar ’18, a student from Kashmir, Pakistan. I asked her to tell me her own story as a Pakistani girl. Afsar grew up in Kashmir, Pakistan, near the border of India, where the Taliban could not reach, or in her own words, “the safest place in Pakistan”. Her family is Suni Muslim; her father’s side of family is “a little less religious than most other Muslims” al-lowing for Afsar to be sent to school in the U.S., but her aunts of her mother’s side still follow the tradition of wearing burqa’s. “I lost my leg in the 2005 Pakistani earthquake

when I was five years old.” She said with a calm, smiling expression, “ My school was under the Himalayas. A mountain split in half during the earthquake, and a half of it fell and hit my school; twenty-something kids died.” She took a brief pause. “I was fine when it first happened… but I let my best friend get out first… and I was under for six hours until a plane took me to the hospital, where I was in a coma for twenty days.” She did not change her speaking tone or expres-sion, as if telling some day-to-day anecdote. “My leg was gone. And my best friend is still my best friend.” She added reassuringly, and optimistically. “I love skiing; I always go skiing in Colorado.” Then she showed us a picture of her, skiing down a white snow hill. “My goal is to be in the Paralympics.” She said hopefully, “I actually might be the first ever Pakistani skier!”

Different from Yousafzai, Afsar grew up in a relatively peaceful environment. “I’ve never experienced any fighting when I was in Kashmir. And the girls who get married at an early age are just in tales.” She spoke proudly of her upbringing. The Pakistani girl remarked that she “literally had to hide the book carefully when she was in Pakistan for the summer,” because it is banned in all private schools. “I really respect Malala’s courage, but not all Pakistan is like what she

said in the book.” She voiced her opinion. “It’s not going to change anything if the people don’t know anything about it. The men don’t let girls go to school because they are afraid—fear of the Taliban.” She said confidently. “Peace, is the most important thing in Pakistan right now; peace, and tax reductions.” She stated, “I would never risk my life for school.”

Following the presentation by the three panelists, Shiza Shahid, Stanford graduate and CEO of the Malala fund, spoke to the community on Saturday morning. “Empow-ering girls” was a phrase that Shahid used frequently in the presentation. She stressed greatly on the importance of girls’ education through her own experience in learning and social working. Shahid presented four les-sons to the Berkshire School community: in-spiration in growth and discovery; power in believing the change; living a life of passion; having a mind of creation and innovation.

It is not just the Taliban stopping the girls from education, and it is not just fear. It is every aspect of the society, every culture, tra-dition, family, government; every individual, who does not recognize the urgent necessity of education. Everyone can emulate Malala if we are willing to speak up and go against the grain for something we truly believe in.

Malalas and Us continued from page 1

A Letter From the EditorsBy Peter Dunn and Sam Reagan

Welcome back to the Green and Gray! After a several year hiatus, the G&G has been reborn with the help of faculty advisors Mr. Perkins, and Ms. Woodworth. Sam and I are looking forward to providing the Berkshire community with a source of information, entertainment, and reflection that we feel the school has been want of in our time here. In addition, it is our hope that the Green and Gray will serve as forum for students to voice opinion, ask questions, and spark con-versation. A recent poll taken at Berkshire showed… Nothing! But it will, we plan to incorporate all sorts of new medias into what is really your paper, so please send us your photos, your tweets, your articles, your jokes, your muses, your thoughts, and even your

complaints. The floor is now open to what the people who make up our community want to say. So enjoy the new Green and Gray, and get talking!

Your Editors,

Peter Dunn and Sam Reagan