The Mysteries of Earliness

Pulling back the curtain on New Roads at the break of dawn.

From the time we’re small children, we’re taught that punctuality is necessary to a productive life. Getting places and getting things done on time makes it so that our society works. If it were not for punctual people, less would get done.

At school, students are expected to show up at a reasonable time, ready for a long day’s work. We are expected to be on time to each class and give a 110% effort. Then, we are asked to be timely with completing our homework, in time for the next school day.

Then, as people become young adults, we are expected to get a job and be punctual. People have to get to work at a specific time, meetings are at specific times, deadlines have to be met. New Roads School is no different. Before the bells ring to bring in the hour of seven, there is a quiet buzz along the walkways. People are arriving, greeting each other, and getting a head start on a new day. Keyboards are tapping and papers are rustling.

Getting out of a car and walking through Eden, the sun can be seen creeping up from its night’s rest. Moisture is in the air, much of it already having set on the grass and benches in the courtyard.

It is only a brief walk to Foucault. It might seem like any other empty room in the early morning, however, Math teacher Jeremiah Bruner, has already been in the room for quite some time, and a conversation ensues about how mind-bogglingly early Jeremiah gets to school.

(Photo by Larry Friedman / The Jaguardian)

Day breaks before the bells ring on the New Roads Campus.

“I’m not a night person,” Bruner says while taking a break from grading with an ever-dulling pencil in hand and a sharpener nearby. When did he first adapt his morning routine? “I would say, from a very early age, I don’t recall exactly when. As we become young adults and we start working, as we start getting jobs: we realize that being on time is extremely important. You know…being punctual gives a good early impression on new employers.” Bruner explains that he’s “more productive in the mornings. I’m a morning person by nature. So, even on the weekends, I wake up early and I seldom stay up late. So, I go to bed early, I get up early,” Bruner said.

And, like many in Los Angeles, Bruner arrives early for another reason: “to beat traffic.”

Just outside Bruner’s room sits the Zen Garden. It would be assumed that the area would be deserted at this time. It is, except for New Roads 9th grader Madison Ford, sitting on one of the benches, listening to her morning music.

“My mom has to get to work at a reasonable time so waking up early just helps me relax in the morning, I get to listen to music, and just sometimes get my stuff together before anyone else,” Ford says, taking a quick break from the music. “I don’t like to be late to some things especially when I think it benefits me and the other person,” Ford explains. “I just don’t want the other person to think that I don’t care about them. I like to be on time because it doesn’t only help me, but it helps the other person. I want the person to think that I am there for them and that I am respectful for their schedule and what they have going on because it might not only be the best for them when it comes to certain things“ My mom works at a school so I learned [this concept] pretty early… I had to [come to school early] in middle school. So, getting up early and making sure I didn’t oversleep was very important,” Ford said.

Pilates is just a short distance away, down the main walkway, and a left turn away. It looks like yet another empty room, until New Roads History teacher Kathy Hartley opens the door to share the reasons why she’s here far earlier than most.

“I am just a morning person: I can get a lot done, I am very productive, I get a lot accomplished in the morning so I can start out really prepared for classes, get my grading done. Second is the amount of work that I have to do, so I get here to get it done. I guess there is a third reason: my husband teaches out in the Valley. So, it is just easier for me to be dropped off here,” Kathy says as she’s getting situated. “I am fanatic about getting places on time. I think it is a fear of missing out on something.”

Back on the main breezeway and a little further North sits the Athletics Office, where one discovers New Roads Athletic Coordinator Irwin Morozin. “I’m trying to beat the traffic to get here. Also, I have found that it is super productive in the morning before the kids get here to get a lot of stuff done,” Morozin says as he settles into his chair. “I try to be early to anywhere I go. I had this college professor, he had this motto: ‘If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. And, if you’re late, you’re fired.’ So, I started living by that since I heard that because I thought it was a pretty good quote, [and] my dad was a super punctual person so that is kind of how I was raised. Punctuality has always been an important part for me,” Morozin said.

New Roads’ early risers are the reason why the school’s gears are already in motion by the time students arrive on campus. In pulling back the curtain and learning the stories of the people that are showing up with the sun, one gains empathy as well as a better understanding of how early risers operate.