Fall Orientation festivities are about to start up, and as is customary for this time of year I’ve been overcome with waves of nostalgia. True, I am only going to be a junior and thereby far from my prime reminiscing years, but there’s something about suiting up to crash the square dance that gets those fond memories a-stirring. Here, I offer just a few of my favorite Midd traditions.
THE HUNT
The Hunt is an epic scavenger hunt that takes place during one week in January each year. I’ve never competed in the Hunt myself (mostly because I am afraid of letting my more competitive side run rampant at the expense of my personal health), but I think any event that causes five flash mobs in one week is worth mentioning on this list. You may not be able to view last year’s submissions, but here’s a link to The Hunt’s webpage. The list of tasks itself is worth perusing if you ask me: http://thehunt.middlebury.edu/
SENIOR CRUSH LISTS
Nothing says “I kind of, sort of, maybe had a Proctor crush on you for one month last year” quite like a wall-mounted, papier-mâché diorama of your feelings. Each semester before graduating seniors leave us, they sit down and list the names of all of the people they’ve had crushes on since the beginning of their freshman year and display them in the dining halls for the whole student body to see. Here’s a link for the history of Crush Lists and for pictures of the best Crush Lists from 2011: http://midd-blog.com/2011/05/10/the-history-of-crush-lists/
ORIENTATION SQUARE DANCE
My inspiration for writing this blog post: the orientation event voted “Most Likely to be Crashed by Angela Santee,” and a not-so-subtle reminder that there are far too many plaid shirts on the face of this earth. Square-dancing is awkward; most of us can probably agree on that. But there’s something magical about square-dancing with 500 equally-awkward-yet-carefree strangers. I give you photographic evidence of its magnificence:
PICKING UP BUTCH
Butch Varno hollering at the referees from a floor seat at a Middlebury basketball game is one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Don’t understand? Check this out: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5757413
WINTER CARNIVAL
In February, Middlebury holds its annual Winter Carnival. The weekend is structured around the ski races that take place during this time on the Bread Loaf campus as well as the Snow Bowl, but there are a whole host of other mini-events taking place on the Middlebury campus itself. Each of these smaller activities deserve to be recognized as traditions in their own right—Orange Crush (an 80s cover band; because who doesn’t enjoy gallivanting in technicolor spandex and off-the-shoulder sweaters?), the northern lights relay competition, or the Winter Carnival Ball. I, for one, have a particular soft spot for the snow sculpture competition having competed in the 2011 sculpt-a-thon with a handful of my closest friends. We actually won a cash prize for our sculpture of wine and cheese. Check it out: http://sites.middlebury.edu/middland/2011/02/23/winter-carnival-snow-sculptures/
