It was freshman year when my friend wore a unicorn onesie to school for pajama day. Unfortunately, it was also the first day she realized Algonquin doesn’t really participate in spirit days. Since that tragedy two years ago, I’ve been reluctant to partake in spirit days. 

It’s not that I dislike spirit days; I actually love them. But this love is only because of what I see in videos or hear about from other schools. My liking for spirit days certainly didn’t come from Algonquin, as the majority of our school isn’t involved. Despite my wishful thinking, I simply can’t imagine Algonquin as one of those schools who have such enthusiasm. 

I admit, I am part of the issue. Though I occasionally participate in spirit days whether it be for sports or school, I rarely go all out. I often worry about how I look in a room full of people who are dressed normally. I think this bit of insecurity may be one of the biggest reasons why people don’t engage in spirit days. 

Word travels fast in Algonquin, and one person who says they won’t participate affects the opinion of many people. Also, because the majority of the student body doesn’t get involved, individuals have little reason to partake in spirit days. It’s almost become part of  Algonquin culture to purposely not participate in the spirit day. 

A domino effect occurs and as a result there is little effort to advertise them. For example, we don’t hype up spirit week before homecoming. The most advertising we see is the occasional post on our Instagram stories. In order to know about the spirit days, you have to follow those on steering and consistently view their stories, and those without social media may not even know about spirit days. Also, because few people know about it, there isn’t a lot of talk surrounding it, contributing to the lack of participation in spirit days. 

However, it’s not just spirit days that Algonquin doesn’t hype up.It’s also the school events such as pep rallies, homecoming and carnival. Considering we are already holding these events, we might as well go full out when we attend them. Maybe then it would feel more fun rather than forced.

Instead of wasting high school experiences by not participating because it goes against the mainstream culture of being negative towards school events, we should make the most out of what we have. We only have a handful of school held events in our high school career that we won’t get back as we get older. Instead, we should value these experiences because they are rare and special. Even if there are similar events like them in the future, they won’t be with the same friends.  And like it or hate it we are forced to attend them anyways. So instead of dreading spirit days or school events, having fun and going all out when participating will make them a whole lot better as you can hold onto these memories with your peers for the rest of your life.