EDITORIAL: A call for school spirit

Here it comes again—another year of expensive dress shopping and “superficial” quests for popularity. Except, it’s not so superficial, is it? Yes, visiting five different stores to find the absolute perfect color tie that matches your date’s dress can be a bit stressful, but the thrum of the music and thrill of the night prove that it’s worth the hassle every time. 

In spite of the fun that inevitably comes with a night full of dancing and countless selfies with friends, the process leading up to the day is always a dangerous tiptoe of excitement and indifference. The popular against-the-grain argument has been that school dances are overrated—in a Crier survey of 357 students, 51.3 percent said as much. 

For many, the pressure of preparing for one grandiose day pales in comparison to simply hanging out with your friends on any normal one. This, coupled with the uniquely adolescent phobia of looking “lame” in front of one’s peers, leaves some students with a skewed idea of what school spirit entails.

Taking part in school spirit means being yourself, but also being a part of something much larger. Spirit days are one of the few ways that all students can actually express uniform support for their school while also staying unique to themselves. Even more, it creates an opportunity to comfortably add humor to a repetitive school day—it is the only time someone can show up to school in a hot dog costume and it is totally acceptable. 

It is not just the spirit days that unify us. This year more than ever, the idea of what Homecoming means has been stripped to a fundamental purpose—bringing the student body together. The outdoor setting of this year’s dance even further invites students to let go of preconceived expectations and enjoy the night without the pressure of formality. Dateless or coupled up, dressed up or dressed down, students this year have the ability to celebrate together as themselves, arriving just as they are.

The past two years have taught us that there is immense value in forging memories and embracing the moment—the palpable disappointment of last year’s lack of school dances demonstrated the significance these moments hold. With a year seemingly still up in the air, treasuring the memories that we are able to make now is the best we can do. So, go buy that $15 grandma wig from Party City—high school is too short to worry about upholding a thinly veiled facade of disinterest.