ASP Headquarters Turning Heads

By HANNAH CUNNINGHAM

Room 12: a place as mysterious as cafeteria food, as unknown as what teachers do after school, and as secretive as where babies come from.

While there have been a multitude of announcements during the first week of the Advanced Studies Program (ASP) about Room 12, which is located in the basement of Schoolhouse on the St. Paul’s School campus, no one knows exactly what happens there. Instead of asking an intern or teacher about the strange location, many students came up with their own ideas of the activities taking place in The Room.

Ecology student and Wing House resident Rebecca Maskwa said, “(I have) never been to room 12 because I don’t know where it is, and I don’t know what’s there, so I don’t know what I need to do there. Isn’t it like tech support and maybe like laundry cards? I don’t know.” Maskwa is not the only student who is unsure of what occurs in Room 12. Patrick Pike, a student in Advanced Mathematics and Foster House, also had a mysterious story about what happens in Room 12. He explained it when he said, “I currently have not been to room 12 because someone told me it was mad haunted.” When asked what it was haunted with, Pike claimed it was past ASP students who failed out of the program.

Hillary Paul and Kolby Hume, two of the ASP Assistant Directors and Room 12 occupants, had a few enlightening words to share about the space and its purpose. “We are the headquarters for (the) ASP. We pick up the random odds and ends,” said Paul. In fact, they do everything from planning events to dealing with crises, answering the phones, sorting mail, running errands, managing keys, and writing chapel announcements. While this may seem like it is all business with no fun, Hume disputed that, saying, “We dance here. We sing here,” while Paul clarified, “I was not the one singing to show tunes!”

Unfortunately, few kids know exactly how much hard work goes into running the program from Room 12. “A lot of stuff we do happens before [students] get here. We plan College Day and Parents Day,” said Hume. Paul added, “It’s really hard, but we get to see the enjoyment through [the students].” Thankfully, this is enough for Paul, Hume, and Joel Iwaskiewicz, who is the third Assistant Director.   

While the Assistant Directors work to ensure the program runs smoothly, they also aid the interns, as Hume said that “(they) prep them for battle.” “(And) then (they) shift troops in the best way possible,” added Paul. In other words, Paul, Hume, and Iwaskiewicz keep track of the students’ whereabouts, make sure that dorm activities are well-designed, and keep the interns fully updated. With all this work, being an Assistant Director is a full time job.

Now that the mystery has been revealed, Room 12 should attract people who are supposed to be there, instead of wanderers who missed the bathroom or the tech support signs. Hopefully this is the case because as Hume said, “We love visitors.”