Rebecca Yu

When asked about turfees (aka the mysterious black specks that inhabit our brand new field), NT twelfth grader, Joseph Yang, simply said, “They don’t taste very good.” No, they don’t, Joseph. However, students have been expressing concerns about different things (taste not included) regarding these miniscule bits of black rubber. Apart from their ability to migrate to the deepest, most abysmal parts of our school (they were reportedly found in the fourth floor math classrooms), they have also found a way to adhere to the bottom of our shoes, clothes, and even our skin. Their smell slightly resembles that of tar, and because of these turfees, eating on the field is now strictly prohibited. It doesn’t stop there. As one eleventh grader pointed out, “if our school is supposed to be environmentally friendly now, I don’t see how those plastic specks help in any way. They may be made from recycled materials, but they will need to be constantly replaced, which almost defeats the purpose of using a recyclable resource.” She makes a valid point; however, we have yet to address all the benefits of these highly unappreciated black specks. It gives the field a lot more cushioning — something football and rugby players will certainly come to appreciate. Moreover, as tenth grader, Robert Zhang, pointed out, he does not get muddy when he rolls around in it. What prompted him to do such a thing? I dared not ask. All and all, there is nothing much we can do about it. As Samantha Chong-Luke puts it, “[The turfees] are kind of like sand — no matter what you do, it still gets everywhere.” Maybe, on a day well off into the future, a very bored inventor (with nothing better to do) will devise a means of attaching homing devices to each and every single one of these turfees. But until then, it would be prudent to take note of these wise words from NT graduate, Megan Wood: “Don’t complain. You have a new field.”