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The Spectator ● March 10, 2017
Features
Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho!: The Spirit of SING!
By Nishmi Abeyweera and Archi Das Bathed in the moonlight, students trail out of Stuyvesant in large crowds. Their eyes seem weighed down by a lack of sleep, but they still excitedly chat with their friends about what is arguably the most significant event in their school year: SING!. It has a strange effect on our community—becoming our everything. Somehow, it manages to bring Stuyvesant together in a way that most things cannot. This year, SING! Spirit Week was held
from Tuesday, February 28 to Friday, March 4. It began with a day for students to wear Stuyvesant apparel, followed by students showcasing their past participation with their old SING! apparel. Thursday brought with it the comfort of Pajama Day. At last, it was Friday, and there seemed to be an overwhelming rush of SING! spirit: students came to school in their current SING! apparel and donned their war paint colors. More often than not, we are quick to turn our backs on the plethora of Stuyvesant’s other
spirit days, whether it be attending sports games or dressing up for Senior Twin Day. Somehow, SING! is able to incite a completely different emotion in us. The energy is everywhere. “I don’t think it’s easy to coordinate for a school of 3200 kids to do all the same thing at all the same time,” Soph-Frosh SING! chorus director Meredith Silfen said. “I also think that a lot of people are unwilling; I just don’t think people want to take a day to match with other people. They just wear what they want to wear every morning, and they come to school, and they don’t need to fol-
low a certain rule book.” Seeing the immense devotion for SING! makes you wonder why it’s such a uniting pressure. “SING! is probably the highlight of my year. I think the whole school can feel it,” Senior Art Director Yujie Fu said. “I’m super duper supercalifragilisticexpialidociously excited,” Junior SING! stage director Jacqueline Cao shrieked. Cao’s contagious enthusiasm is perfect representation of how devoted people can get to SING!. We coalesce around SING!. “People usually think of Stuyve-
sant as a math and science school, but then SING! is a showcase of these talents that we don’t see that often,” Fu said. “People getting to express that side of themselves is the amazing part of what SING! is all about.” The unity of SING! season seems to bring on a bout of nostalgia when reflected on. “Seeing everyone participate and even wear the same thing [...] acknowledges and confirms the fact that all of [us] are part of this process together, which is why it is so significant for us,” senior Mohammed Ullah said.