I warn you now that I’m going to tell you this funny story before getting to the actual point: the lack of SCHOOL SPIRIT

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So once again it’s that time of the year where juniors get pranked. The t-shirts that Mary Wash gave us are ugly to say the least. Sorry if you’re the designer and are reading this – I’m just not a fan. The font isn’t clean and instead of “They prankin you” it should have said “and they prankin er’ junior out there.” Again, that’s just my take on it.

Anyway, as a member of the Women’s Rugby team, I’m getting pranked. On Tuesday a senior found me sitting at the nest and gave me floaties and a weird party decoration that you’re only likely to see on the fourth of July… or this week in my hair, just saying. The point is that I have to wear these at ALL times for the rest of the week. Do you know how many weird looks I got? Plenty. Oh well, here’s a picture of me and the fellow juniors in the team that had been pranked by lunch. We’re a lovely bunch…

on to my actual point…

The point of this post is not to just show you how ridiculous we look or for you to get a good laugh – actually please enjoy this thoroughly because it’s quite funny. I want to share with you my views on school spirit. Why is it that the only time everyone gets together is for homecoming, when everyone pre-games the soccer game and does I don’t know what during the rest of the day before going to the planned concert and then out to parties. It’s the only time of the year that you can see people embracing something and everything that has our crest, the eagle or just says UMW or Mary Washington.

So when it comes to junior ring week, not many get pranked. It used to be a big deal, a rite of passage. Now it’s just something that very few partake in, like the rugby team. We’re (by we I mean juniors) are supposed to be scared and wondering what’s going to happen to our stuff and so forth. Whatever happened to tradition? When given the option of buying a class ring, most people opt out of it without thinking twice about its significance. To me, not only is it pretty jewelry, but it represents a milestone in my life. Not every person in this country or in the world can say they’ve completed college and have a bachelor’s degree. Seriously, what about going out to support your fellow classmates at a game? If you ever decide to randomly show up to any scheduled game you’ll just see parents and family members, then the random roommates/friends that decide to come and support the game. Honestly, I think that the only teams that gain any fans are the basketball teams and Mother’s rugby. I can honestly say that teams like the lacrosse and tennis team have a limited number of fans to cheer them on. How do I know this you wonder, I try to attend games/matches/meets at least once for every team.

The bottom line, Mary Washington lacks school spirit and I wish this could change in the near future.

If you got through this post, please consider going out to support a team and watch their meet/game/match or participate in a club event. Whether that be the Date Auction or simply going to Club Carnival, know that every organization and sport on this campus has students that put an effort and dedicate a lot of their time into these.