Whoever said that tradition never dies has never met the class of 2013. As graduation approaches and we reflect back on our unconventional senior year, we remember the many unique circumstances the affected not only the seniors, but the whole student body of VHS.
For classes of seniors before us, memories always included football games on the field behind the school, and a classic graduation on the field in the heat, sweating out the chance of a thunderstorm. For them, the yearbook included a class picture of them in that same spot in the home side of the football bleachers and a spread where all the seniors were dressed up for Halloween. But when we look back on our senior year, we’ll have some different memories.
When the year first began, we were informed that sink holes on the football field would mean Verona had to take action quickly, investing in creating a new football field on the lower fields where the baseball fields are located. So we knew early on that our senior year football memories would be different.
It was not until a few days before the traditional senior picture that we realized that this would be different too. The usual spot for the picture could not be used. After working on the senior banner for a few days straight, the yearbook staff had to quickly come up with a new spot for the picture. Deciding between the gym bleachers which had no spot to put the banner, the baseball bleachers which are curved and didn’t really work for the picture, and the new bleachers which had only six rows, we had a lot of running around to do. Luckily, on the day of the picture the photographer helped us decide on the spot. It might not be the same as years past, but it still looks pretty good.
We thought the field would be the worst of our problems, but then Sandy hit and for the second year in a row, Halloween was postponed. With all the chaos that followed Sandy, VHS staff decided that seniors should dress up a week after Halloween, resulting in far less participation than years past. This Sandy-caused havoc broke another tradition – Halloween would be in November. But the senior grade prevailed and for those who did dress up, Halloween was a success.
Even though we’ve dealt with these many unfortunate changes to tradition, there is still one more we must face before saying goodbye to our hectic last year – graduation. While VHS girls imagine taking the classic candid picture on the June-green field with their white dresses and the boys imagine sweating like crazy in ties and button downs under their gowns, this year’s graduation will happen in an air-conditioned venue off campus. Due to the holes on the fields and the poor weather in years past, this graduation will be held indoors at Caldwell College for the first year ever. The class of 2013 will be the trial run to see if this will become the new tradition.
Some call having all these breaks to tradition unlucky, but who better to get unlucky than the class of ’13?