By Ava Hull ’21 News Reporter
One hundred and twenty six students, eighteen faculty members, two housekeepers, seven faculty children and five pets make up one big Fowle Hall family. Not only does this dorm house every ninth and tenth grade girl on the Mercersburg Academy campus, it also includes upperclass students. This dorm is where girls start their high school career and their Mercersburg journey. With this, there are many people who help the girls through the adjustment process, such as the great faculty, devoted prefects, and the amazing dorm dean, history department faculty member Emily Parsons.
Some of the most beloved aspects of Fowle have to do with food: the cereal nights, the freezer stocked with ice-cream, decoration of the dorm for various holidays, and the Fowle-O-ween dance. However, it is not just these events that make Fowle such a great dorm. Sammy Jacobs ’23 says that being surrounded by other new students and having experienced prefects is making her dorm experience special. Although most girls in Fowle are boarders, the dorm also claims many students who commute to and from school each day. Day student Savannah Poe ’23 thinks that being on the same wing as the boarders and being included in dorm events helps her to connect with the other girls in her grade, although she cannot always be around.
Although Fowle Hall is a great place for ninth and tenth graders, some upperclass students are discontent, wishing to be with the rest of their grade on front campus. Perfect Sally Ballantine ’21 loves to be surrounded by girls she would not interact with otherwise, forming close relationships with her younger floormates. However, she sometimes misses being in a dorm with other girls from her grade. This same feeling of being left out is the common emotion from most upperclass students in Fowle. However, an upside to staying in this dorm for upper middle and senior year is the amazing faculty who are on duty and who are also academic advisers.
Steve Fowler, a two-year member of Fowle Hall and math department faculty member, said, “I think it’s wonderful to have the opportunity for the students to get to know faculty on a personal level, and the girls in Fowle Hall genuinely seem to enjoy that part of it as well.” He also enjoys every faculty member of Fowle, and he has learned a lot from his time in the dorm, especially from Parsons. She said, “I love working with the girls and watching all of them learn, grow, and form bonds that they’ll have for a lifetime.” What it boils down to is that Fowle is not only a dorm loved by students but also by faculty.
Overall, Fowle Hall is a place to watch girls grow into their places in the Mercersburg community. Additionally, you can always count on it being lively and simply a good time Gabrielle Grandjean ’20 said, “I’ve only been in Fowle since I’ve been here. It’s nice because during study hours, it is quiet without all the noise from the juniors. I love to scare them because I can even though most of them are taller than me.”
“The dorm is a great place to get to know many of the girls in the school because it houses a lot of people. The Fowle girls and faculty have given me a place to call home,” said Paloma Tellez ’21.