Imagine it’s early September. The leaves are starting to change, and everyone has that fresh, back-to-school glow, naive to the burnout most of us face later in the school year. On Thompson Quad, you’re met with an onslaught of sticker-covered poster boards and plastic bowls filled with snickers. Upperclassmen shout to be heard above the chaos as they pitch their ideas, droning on far longer than anyone is actually listening. Freshmen race to put their names on as many sign up sheets as possible while seniors steal candy from their friends’ tables. Yep, you guessed it, you’re at the activities fair. But although this day is supposed to be inspiring, most of us are left with one question: Are these students really invested in the activities they sign up for?

On October 23, the Hopkins Parent Outing Committee hosted their fall event at the Lost in New Haven (LINH) museum. The event consisted of a private tour led by Amy Caplan ’91, the museum’s Director of Development, and was organized by Madeline Fejos ’90 and Annie Adams, co-chairs of committee and parents to students in the classes of ’26 and ’31, respectively.

The Razor asked Hopkins community members for their New Year’s resolutions for 2026 and their 2025 achievements.

As Term 1 comes to an end and the holiday season is upon us again, some may find themselves scrambling to throw together gifts for their friends and family. Don’t panic! Even if you only have five minutes or five dollars, these last-minute ideas from the Hopkins community can save you from showing up empty-handed.

It’s that time of the year again, when the halls smell faintly of peppermint mochas, AirPods blast “Last Christmas” by Wham!, and Starbucks cups everywhere are filled with Sugar Cookie Lattes. The snow piles up just enough to cancel class, and people begin to whisper the same question: What are the seniors going to do for Five Golden Rings?

On Tuesday October 28, seniors gathered into the Academic and Performing Arts Center for a two-hour performance of Tina Packer’s Women Of Will. The performance offered seniors the chance to view Shakespeare scenes live and explore the evolutions of female characters in Shakespeare's plays. This event, organized by English teacher Alissa Davis in collaboration with the Elm Shakespeare Company, marked the first time Hopkins brought an outside theater company to perform live in Hopkins’ theater.

I wish...

Forty-three days of a shuttered federal government didn’t just expose a budget crisis. It exposed something deeper: a media ecosystem so polarized that it helped cause and sustain the longest shutdown in American history, whose effects continue to linger.

Thanksgiving and winter break are not only weeks for students to rest but also for teachers and faculty to take some time off from intense schedules and everlasting numbers of  homework and assessments to grade.

Dr. Laurie Santos, Professor of Yale’s most popular course, “Psychology and the Good Life,” spoke at a Hopkins all-school assembly on Friday, October 17. Santos advised Hopkins students on how to optimize happiness and answered questions from Hopkins Peer Supporters.