Let’s go HALL-IN! In the weeks leading up to Halloween, the phrase can be heard in emails, from our Student Council leaders, and occasionally on the paths. The rally to get us at the Halloween or “Haunted Prep” dance is even bolstered by school-wide competitions, where clusters and dorms have the chance to win gift cards and munches. But is there a point in urging us to go Hall-In? Should fun really need mobilizing?
Events such as Pep Rally, Andover/Exeter day, Andover Edition’s Bassment, and den shows are all beloved and well-attended without much advertisement. Opportunities for the most fun and the most connection among students, it seems, are actually the events pushed by students themselves, where we are able to show support for our friends and showcase our talent. Rather than organizing events and sending out our student leaders to galvanize the masses, resources should be allocated to creating spaces for students to take initiative in creating fun for themselves.
Though the Haunted Prep dance garnered more attendance this year, other dances such as Abbot Ball and Blue and Silver have faced struggles with turnout. For instance, last October, Abbot Ball was on track to be canceled due to less than 50 people showing up the prior year. While a common excuse among students for not showing up to Andover’s Halloween events is the tantalizing happenings off-campus, the same excuse fails to generalize to events like Abbot Ball. Perhaps this suggests, then, that the administration should focus on creating spaces that emulate where students already love connecting.
For instance, we know that many students enjoy going to Boston with their friends on the weekends. So, in the Winter, we might organize buses to Seaport, the Christmas market. We might also look to the Bassment dance for inspiration, which almost always generates considerable turnout. Students have speculated that this is the case because the dance is organized by the student group Andover Edition, which reduces the stigma that might come with administration-organized events and is possibly more attuned to student desires. Additionally, extended support of student groups such as Goose & Moose for whom students pack the den to watch could also help create more campus connection and fun.
And for us students, we should loosen up and keep taking initiative to create fun together, just as we do on Friday nights in the den or cheering on our sports teams at Pep Rally. Let’s bring back fun traditions like dates and public proposals to Abbot. Let’s continue to make time and effort for our friends. Andover flies by (we get to say this, we’re Seniors), and it’s the night we decided to sing at karaoke or the dinner where we convened all of our friends that are among what makes these years the most special.
