Grace ’18
I came into UHS only knowing two girls who I had gone to school with for nine years prior. Every incoming freshman is assigned a cluster, which is a group of about 12 people with a faculty member who is our ‘mentor’. When I first met my cluster, I was excited to have a group of people I could get to know easily during the first weeks of school. Coming into UHS I was nervous about making new friends, but as the year went on, I found it easy to find people who I enjoyed spending time with because I knew I always had my cluster as well. Cluster provides a space where I can relax and have fun just playing cards, eating snacks, and hanging out for about an hour a week.
It’s amazing how a group of people with such diverse interests can come together and have a great time. During cluster, we start out by sharing our rose and thorn of the week- one good thing and one bad thing that happened to each of us. Most of the time we then disperse and play games like apples to apples, heads up, or Pictionary. Each week one or two members of the cluster bring snack for the whole group, so throughout the hour we chat, eat, and play games. It’s a nice stress release after a full week of school and I enjoy having these people who will always be there.
Occasionally we will discuss current issues as well. For example, after the presidential debate, we spent some time debriefing it. Last week, we watched a TED talk by the author of our summer reading book on inequalities in the criminal justice system, and this week we are going to be debriefing the TED talk as well as the book. Our discussion is going to be within our cluster but will also include another cluster that meets right next to us. I love cluster and the time I get to spend with people I might not have gotten to know otherwise.
On the Courtyard 