Exoniana: Senior Meditation

As I started reading this, chills ran through my body. I hadn’t thought of this tradition in years (was it called “meditation” in the early- to mid-’80s? I can’t quite remember …), but boy have memories flooded back. It’s a wonderful tradition and I’m so glad to learn that it is still alive.

Steven Chanan ’86

It was called Chapel in the ’70s, and was optional on Thursday during the assembly time slot. I started going occasionally as an upper. There were some stories, but there were also musical performances. I remember it as a peaceful pause.

Terry Cowdrey ’78

Writing and delivering my senior meditation was one of my most profound Exeter experiences.

Jean Hoffman Mrachko ’88

It’s almost awkward revisiting my meditation now. I remember being proud of it because it felt genuine and vulnerable, and I was honored to read it during a meditation block. Looking back, I can see that what felt like my whole world at the time was really just part of my story. Now, the meditation feels like a (very high school) snapshot of who I was at the time and the grief I was learning to navigate.

Forrest Barker ’13

Meditation was one of my favorite and most meaningful experiences at PEA.

Debby Herbenick ’94

Arguably the very best Exeter tradition.

Brian Morgan ’88

Meditation made me feel closer to my classmates and to myself! Sharing mine senior spring was such a poetic ending to my time at Exeter. :)

Cee McClave ’24

Dana Huh ’12 read one her senior year that was so beautifully written I’ll never forget it!

Michelle Soucy, instructor in Health and Human Development

I think meditation just might be Exeter at its very best! I will cherish forever the experience of writing a meditation alongside my seniors, then giving it late that fall in Phillips Church.

Jason BreMiller, former instructor in English

I went fairly often. It was a good respite in the middle of the week and a good contrast with assembly.

Mather Pfeiffenberger ’73

Responses originally shared via email or on social media

From the Editor
Meditation invites the Academy to gather, to listen and to connect with a personal essay written and read by a member of our community each Wednesday in Phillips Church and Multifaith Center.

The tradition began in 1970 after mandatory church service at the Academy was discontinued. As church attendance declined, the Rev. Ted Gleason began offering a Thursday morning sermon during the time assembly was held on other weekdays.

His successor, the Rev. Daniel Morrissey, expanded the practice, inviting faculty to share reflections. Morrissey, who died in 2024, said he “wanted to make Phillips Church part of the whole ethos of the school community.”

Today, the community hears from faculty and staff speakers in the fall and from members of the senior class in the winter and spring.

A selection of senior meditations is published annually through the generosity of the Shannon Nissa Bailey Powers ’97 Memorial Fund.