On Wednesday my college, Roberts Wesleyan, held it's annual “Man Jam.” This is a tradition where all the the men on campus try to squeeze as many men as possible into the foyer of one of the residence halls. To give some perspective, the foyer is roughly a fifteen by twelve foot rectangle. This year we fit seventy five guys into the foyer, only twenty seven away from breaking the record of one hundred. But the reason for not breaking the record was not a lack of space but rather a lack of participants.

This got me to thinking about school traditions and how important they were in high school, they built fellowship and school pride, created a sense of unity, and made memories that last for years. And they were a big part of one's high school experience, but as we move onto college we tend to lose this communicable school pride. Whole school, group traditions are less important, and tend to die out all together as we progress to upperclassmen, and graduate school. Now are there exceptions?Yes, but in general this tends to be the trend. I wonder why this is. Is it because college is bigger, usually, then high school? Is it because college has a different focus? I do not know, but I think it is a shame.

So why don't we walk down memory lane? I would like my dear reader to envision their high school, to think of their traditions. I attended McQuaid Jesuit high school, an all male private school in Rochester. We had some great traditions which I am sure are not terribly uncommon among high schools. As an all male school we did not have a cheer team, but we did host the number one cheering section in section five. One of our best well known cheers is a Simba, which goes like this.

Leader: “Bring it in!” (and all of the boys will come rushing in together to form a giant blob of bodies all pressing together)

Leader: “I have one question for you. ARE YOU READY?!!!”

All: “YEAH!”

Leader: “I said ARE YOU READY?!!!!”

All: “YEAH!!”

Leader: “BWANA BWANA!”

All: “SIMBA!” (All start to jump)

Leader: “BWANA BWANA!”

All: “SIMBA!”

Leader: “B'NABE!”

All: “OOGH!

Leader: “B'NABE!”

All: “OOGH!”

All together: “ZOOIE, ZOOIE, ZOOIE, ZOOIE, YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”

(Everyone goes crazy, jumping on each other)

Another tradition, and possibly my favorite, is the running of the bulls, where on the senior's last day of classes, the whole class gathers together at the beginning of senior hall way. We all start running like mad men through the whole school, as a group, down every hall way. There is no stopping us, if someone is in the way they will get trampled. But it is an event the whole school watches, students gather by the doors of classrooms to watch as the seniors pass. Every boy looks forward to it and it not only unites the school, but the senior class. But more then just these traditions, there is the sausage fest, where the whole school turns out, and the grill team cooks hot dogs free of charge. There is the senior camp out, there are dances. All of these traditions bring the school together, and create great memories.