There are some things that truly say "college" to me. All-nighters, cheap ramen, endless amounts of caffeine - and, most importantly, doing slightly crazy things just for the heck of it.
Dorm events are usually pretty wacky. For years, our neighboring male dorm has had a Pumpkin Smash - a large group wrestling event where the arena is a tarp covered in rotting pumpkin (and other slippery substances). My dorm has been trying different things for the last few years, but nothing has really stuck.
However, this year we tried something new - the Watermelon Smash. The leadership of the dorm determined it would be best to have it as a closed event with only the girls from my dorm, and so here's what happened behind our closed doors that fateful Sunday afternoon.
First, the halls gathered and prepared. We put on war paint and put up our hair, and some of us taped down our clothing. There was an impromptu dance party in the basement while we waited for one of the halls to arrive, and then the event truly began. The basement was decorated in pink and green, and a tarp was laid down to prevent watermelon from messing up the floor of the laundry room.
Once the final hall arrived, the concept of "quiet" ceased to exist. Our halls entered the arena one by one, blasting songs selected by the RA's. The energy level in that room was insane in comparison to my dorm's somewhat demure reputation. Our lovely Area Coordinator went over the rules one final time, and then the fun truly began.
The RA's were given a watermelon each, and they smashed them on the tarp and took turns beating them with a baseball bat. Then, every single participant was given a bag of either red or green Jell-O to throw on the tarp. A mini food fight briefly broke out and then was squashed by the authorities. It was fun, despite the fact that I don't like getting my hands dirty (sensory issues) and it was stressful to have my hands completely covered in Jell-O. Next, we all put a single foot on the boundary line between "in" and "out".
"ONE! TWO! THREE! SMASH!!!" said a ref, and we all dogpiled on the tarp. Bodies were piled on top of one another, everyone striving to stay in and get others out. Several girls managed to climb their way to the top but were eventually thrown off. It was very crowded, and I chose to not get quite as involved as I might have. I stayed vertical for the most part, sidestepping toes and elbows to an empty and relatively safe corner of the tarp. I found someone near the edge, and I tried to drag her off the tarp, but she was too strong.
I managed to stay in a surprisingly long time for being so uninvolved. Eventually, someone noticed that I was vulnerable and pushed me out of the ring. I think I made it roughly halfway through the smash, and I'm proud of that. The more people who got out, the louder the screaming became, and so when the final few girls were fighting for the title, it was deafening. Three girls from my hall ganged up on the other two in the ring, and so the final three were my RA and two roommates. My RA was pushed out, and the roommates went head. One of them won, and the room erupted in celebratory shouts. We all left to get cleaned up and met back in about an hour and a half to go off to the victory dinner.
We paraded up to the dining hall with the Smash Queen on a throne and the rest of our hall riding on a pick-up truck. We arrived like a conquering army, singing "Dancing Queen", my hall's song for the event. Some of the décors had been transported to the dining hall, and we enjoyed cheesecake while the Queen was given her crown of watermelon. In all, it was a lovely afternoon, and I sincerely hope we do it again next year.
