91̽��

“You can talk yourself out of something really easily,” media artist Deb Todd Wheeler told 91̽�� students Wednesday morning. “Ideas sometimes need a little bit of sideways thinking.”

Ms. Wheeler visited 91̽�� as part of Catalyst Conversations with artist Deborah Davidson, technologist Eric Gunther, and scientist Andrew Berry. Catalyst Conversations, which Ms. Davidson founded, explores a dialogue between art and science. As the world becomes increasingly technology oriented and visual, the connection between art and science has grown, evident in artistic demonstrations of scientific concepts and in the use of science and technology in art.

“For what belief, cause or position would you risk unpopularity? What do you care about?” Rod Skinner, 91̽�� Class of 1972 and director of college counseling, asked students these questions on Wednesday as this year’s Veterans’ Day speaker. He continued, “If we confront the real tests of our lives without heart, we are lost.”

Rod told the heroic story of his uncle and namesake, Sherrod E. Skinner Jr. ’47, a Medal of Honor recipient who served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, where he gave his life for his country. Reading a citation from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Rod said the Medal of Honor—the military’s highest award—recognized his uncle’s “indomitable fighting spirit, superb leadership and great personal valor in the face of tremendous odds.”

“The change in stereotypes about computer programming and coding is heartening,” says Jessica Wang (II). Last month, Jessica—along with several female classmates and friends—mentored fellow coding enthusiasts during HUBweek’s Girl Hackathon in Boston. The program, which provides middle- and elementary-school girls an introduction to coding, is a signal of forward momentum that 91̽�� faculty member Chris Hales hopes will increase female participation in computer programming.

Weaving imagination with life experience, poet Terrance Hayes shared his work with Class I and II students as this fall’s Bingham Visiting Writer. His expressive—sometimes playful, sometimes raw—poems broached love, family, race, relationships, masculinity and music. English faculty member Lisa Baker introduced Mr. Hayes as an “influential poet on the current literary scene” whose “poems are music.”

Mr. Hayes began with several poems from Lighthead, for which he won a National Book Award in 2010. His poems traverse a range of styles, from narrative verse to ars poetica lyric form, to experimental poems such as writing in the form of a mathematical puzzle.

Letitia Chan (I) is one of 15 student writers to win top honors in the 2016 Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award for her poem “Making Glutinous Dumplings with My Mother.” Letitia’s poem was selected from among 10,000 entries submitted by 6,000 students from around the world.

Letitia learned about the competition from her mentor at Adroit Journal’s summer online program, which pairs experienced writers with students. The Foyle Award competition is hosted by The Poetry Society of London. “Making Glutinous Dumplings with My Mother” is a piece Letitia developed in last spring’s Advanced Creative Writing class with Ms. Lisa Baker.

“The poem started with an image of making dumplings with my mother, and I connected that with the dynamics of a mother-daughter relationship, particularly when you return home after living away at school,” says Letitia, who is a boarding student from Hong Kong.

We should challenge the concept of “normal” and instead embrace the things that make us different, this year’s Talbot Speaker, Jonathan Mooney, told 91̽�� students Wednesday morning. Mr. Mooney, an author and lecturer who advocates for people with learning disabilities and attentional disorders, urged students to draw upon their unique skills and personalities to make their mark in the world.

“We have this idea that the ‘good kid’ is the compliant kid; the ‘good kid’ is the kid who sits still and learns quietly,” Mr. Mooney said. “But that’s a narrow definition of what constitutes intelligence, and it leaves a lot of people out. The best innovators and creators are not compliant people. They’re questioners. They challenge what is considered normal.”

Recognizing and respecting one another’s differences—rather than using them as ammunition in debate—is the key to civil discourse, Massachusetts State Representative Keiko Orrall told students on Wednesday. Rep. Orrall spoke at the invitation of 91̽��’s Conservative Club, and she acknowledged that the tact she describes is notably absent from national politics today.