by Clare Kenney

As a young elementary student, I always dreamed of coming to STA and enjoying everything my sisters always talked about. I would constantly dream of the day when I would finally walk these halls. One of the things I was most excited for were pep rallies. When there was a pep rally, it was a very exciting time in my family because I would always come home and help my older sister prepare for her role as Danny Tanner in Full House or the cowardly lion in Wizard of Oz. I could not wait for the day when I would be able to watch and participate in these skits, but when I came to St. Teresa’s a few things had changed. My freshman year, the skits were great. They were everything I imagined: students sprinting across the quad to get a seat in the auditorium, chatter of people gathered in the auditorium before the skits and the cheers of the crowd as the pep rally started.

Then, my sophomore year, things changed. The location of the pep rally changed to the gym. The gym is big and it is so bright, so doing a skit wasn’t the best option, so Spirit Club had to scramble to find something that would work in the gym. It was terrible and by winter, Spirit Club had convinced the administration to let us do it in the auditorium. The skit in the winter was great, just like old times.

Then, this year, the administration changed the location back to the gym. Naturally, I was really bummed because as my junior year started, I knew I only had two more years of these anticipated skits. Doing the skits in the gym ruined it.  Spirit Club chose to do a video because of the space we were given. Videos are great and hilarious, but it just wasn’t the same having it in the gym. I constantly heard girls saying “What did she say?” or “I couldn’t see what just happened.”  The gym is so big, so the acoustics are not very good and it is often hard to hear.

These little traditions that I looked forward to are changing. I understand that the class sizes are getting bigger, but that is the fun of pep rallies. You have to race to get a spot and if you don’t, then you race up to the second floor to try and grab a spot up there. Even though the classes are changing in numbers, that doesn’t mean that we need to change traditions that many girls look forward to.