In the final few days, we take time to reflect on the semester and ask students to think deeply about their time at 黑料不打烊.

鈥淗ave I changed? If so, what has changed?鈥�

鈥淲hat will I carry forward when I return home? What will I leave behind?鈥�

鈥淲hat am I excited to return to?鈥�

鈥淗ow will I share this experience? What does it mean to be part of a community, both distant and near?鈥�

After students celebrated with prom, their 10-year time capsule, and a final camp out on Garden Hill, each one shared one final reflection with the whole community, standing in front of their peers and teachers for the last time. Students shared stories offriendships, growth, renewed energy and excitement for learning, and the occasional mishap on Solo or the farm.

Excerpted below are twelve highlights from the semester reflections of Spring 2026, in students鈥� own words:

鈥淎t Mountain School, the idea of comfort has become less about whether I have a thousand mosquito bites or working outside in the rain. Instead, comfort has become more synonymous with safety. I would lie in an awkward position that hurts my neck on the Dining Hall floor for hours just to listen to people sing or talk about themselves because, even if I was physically uncomfortable, I still felt safe.鈥�

鈥淭he inchworm is cute, but the fly contributes so much more to its ecosystem. What factors invalidate the lives of certain organisms, simply because they are a nuisance to us humans? I think to some extent, my view of conceptions and expectations such as those of the fly and the inchworm have changed from being at 黑料不打烊. First coming into TMS, I had a ton of expectations for how my semester was going to be. I was going to come here, totally change as a person, and go home. However, that wasn鈥檛 exactly linear, and I don鈥檛 know to what extent I have changed. Each factor of my experience has given me a lesson that hasn鈥檛 necessarily changed my values or who I am as a person, but has given me insight into the possibility of my own actions.鈥�

鈥淏efore I came here, it was incredibly easy for me to overlook life, live it through routines, and ignore what was around me. But I am so grateful that I get to say that this has changed. By being in this environment, doing farm work, seeing the animals, and living with people who are experiencing TMS at the same time as me, I started to appreciate things I used to overlook. Life is so short and moves fast, but it is also so incredibly worthy. TMS reminded me of that. I have met so many amazing people here who have changed the way I look at the world, I have done things I had never imagined myself doing, and I have learned how to live and love even when it's challenging. I especially learned that even after hardship, there is still so much life that is waiting to be lived.鈥�

鈥淪o, what I learned here is that the people you surround yourself with really affect you and the mood of your life, so in the future I need to find more people like the people here. The other thing I really like about this school is the teachers. This was my first time going to such a small school where I felt like the teachers actually cared about what they were teaching and cared whether I paid attention or not. I鈥檝e learned the most I've ever learned here, and actually enjoyed my classes.鈥�

鈥淭MS is a community that has taught me to determine for myself what has the most value. I鈥檝e had a lot of discussions here in class and everywhere else on this farm about things like paradigms and how intrinsic value is subjective and not always matched by the value society as a whole places on something. That鈥檚 probably how I not only learned, but allowed myself to full-heartedly believe, that having fun and making memories is as valuable and important as the work we do here to learn about our food systems or the landmarks of our place.鈥�

鈥満诹喜淮蜢� is a community, and it is a place to build community. Knowing a community and knowing a place means knowing the people within. And to know people you have to understand who they are, what their culture is. Culture: most beautifully and abundantly expressed through food and music. My music taste has only expanded since coming to this school, my tastes have diversified, and for that I am forever grateful. 黑料不打烊 has been great, but, to quote Tom Petty, 鈥業t鈥檚 time to move on.鈥欌��

鈥淚 think this is one of the greatest gifts 黑料不打烊 has given me, to have people in my life who care enough to stay well past when they have to, and who go out of their way to make my life feel safer.鈥�

鈥淭hank you for challenging me when I least expect it, and especially in the first few weeks, because it showed me that feeling so much love and security for a place does not come from a relationship that has always been easy. Thank you for introducing me to people I will admire for a lifetime. Here I have met people whose outlooks on life, and whose mindsets, have blown me away. Their attitudes and the way they carry themselves with natural confidence and individuality is infectious and it has inspired me when I have thought it impossible. I have felt comfort with the adults here that I also did not think was possible to feel at a school, and I think every teacher deserves an award for making us all feel truly seen and heard.鈥�

鈥淲hile being here very small rituals developed and grew into anchors. Seeing the light on the canopy as I walked to breakfast, the quiet movement of Conard waking up, seeing the sun setting in Elm as the school day winded to an end. Those repetitions nudged me to stop listening to distractions and start listening to the world, and the only thing I regret is how long it took me to notice. Repetition also taught me to embrace the unexpected. Weather and circumstance rerouted plans more often than not, but those limits felt clarifying rather than confining. When a storm canceled a trip to Back Brook or I took a wrong trail that seemed to lead to someone else鈥檚 property, the response was rarely panic; it was a reorientation and a collective improvisation that could still be appreciated.鈥�

鈥淚 still don鈥檛 fully know why I applied to TMS when I had no interest in nature, and especially not farming, but I鈥檓 really glad I did. Being here pushed me into experiences I normally would've avoided, like camping, eating outside, and even playing basketball. Now that I鈥檓 getting ready to go home, I keep thinking about how different my life there feels from the one I鈥檝e lived here surrounded by nature for months. But I don鈥檛 want to lose the version of myself I found at TMS. When I go back home, I want to keep spending time outside, go to parks more often, play sports, and visit the swamps I used to ignore.鈥�

鈥淚 came here with a somewhat corny sense of nihilism toward others and thought my friend group would be enough for me, but I鈥檝e discovered the joy of connecting with people I normally wouldn鈥檛. I believed that I could stay coddled by a school system that only focused on shoving as much info into me without making any effort. My school years flew by in a grey slush of information coming and going. I don鈥檛 have one specific moment that truly 鈥渕ade鈥� my TMS experience; instead, it was the people I learned to connect with here, whom I normally wouldn鈥檛 have even talked to. I stepped out of my bubble and learned how much more the world has to offer me. Every single person has a unique perspective and experiences that they bring, and if I truly want to grow and survive in our world, I need to be willing to listen.鈥�

鈥淪o maybe here is my big realization: if you ever feel like you鈥檙e stuck in a haze, or lost in a dream, or just not very present. Pack your bags and move to the middle of nowhere Vermont, where there isn鈥檛 even a weather signal, where the roads aren鈥檛 even paved, where you live on a farm that鈥檚 also a school, and some would maybe even say a cult. Shake up your life, do something crazy, create a bucket list, make a purpose for yourself, find your people, the ones who love you even at your lowest, the ones who come back and forgive you for making what feels like the biggest mistakes of your life, surround yourself with joy and with love, because when it鈥檚 time for you to wake up you鈥檒l be astonished with how bright this world truly is, I鈥檇 even wager it鈥檚 gonna be pretty hard to get lost again.鈥�

Now, with our newest group of alums returning to their home communities, the work of the summer begins: Garden Hill is turning greener, the sheep and cattle are rotating their way through grazing pasture, and we are planning for reunions, visiting schools, and getting ready for Fall 2026.

If you鈥檇 like to look back on Spring 2026, check out here.

Alumni, please share your own thoughts and reflections in the comments below!