One of the reasons students can feel a sense of excitement when spring break ends is the shenanigans that come with seeing seniors celebrating the completion of their Independent Studies. The parade of students walking, scootering, piggyback riding through the Arch screaming and cheering as they bask in their accomplishment brings the campus together to celebrate something that makes Wooster unique. Traditions, like I.S. Monday, allow students to see firsthand what the Wooster experience entails.
Other traditions at Wooster include the procession through the Arch for the incoming first years during orientation, first years taking a class photo after the march, Springfest presented by the Wooster Activities Crew to draw out interesting artists and rowdy students. Covers lets students gather a group of friends to sing to their hearts’ desires. The bagpipes themselves constitute a sense of culture as students watch bagpipers march down the hill during football games or lead the parade of students on I.S. Monday. While this list is not even exhaustive of all traditions at the school, this list gives a look inside what it means for students to come together to support other students and to bond over being a member of the Wooster community. Most recently a tradition that was fulfilled was when a significant amount of campus came together on a freezing night this January to fill the Arch of Kauke.
When talking about filling the Arch, I remember I was with a group discussing how to further cultivate community. We started discussing what it means to develop traditions today. I remember the conversation because I was puzzled. Up until that point, I had subconsciously thought that traditions were just natural occurrences and were not planned or thought out originally. Students did not originally participate in filling the Arch because they figured it would start a trend for years to come. Students brainstormed an idea and worked together to execute the idea, aka the Independent Minds coming together mantra. Traditions just occur and pick up wherever and whenever, based on the people and the place.
However, I realized that traditions are constantly occurring around us. Tradition just depends how we define it. We develop personal traditions, such as going with friends to Mom’s on Friday nights or getting a peppermint latte to celebrate the last final during the winter. But what ways do we add to Wooster’s collective identity and push the development of new traditions to accommodate the times?
The annual events that occur on campus do not have to be set in stone. Through having students engage in clubs or activities that create annual events or activities on campus, such as the First-Year Governance Council starting a talent show, and by pushing the ways that things are looked at, such as by asking questions to administrators about polices like the allocation process for clubs, students are redefining what it means be a Wooster student. While I will enjoy I.S. Monday coming up and the other traditions this spring, I also want my time at Wooster to be dedicated to cultivating my own traditions and looking to develop the traditions that can give voice and memorable experiences to fellow students for years to come.
Grace Montgomery, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at JMontgomery20@wooster.edu.