Every year at this time, young people are falling asleep with smiles on their faces in anticipation of the joys before them. They predict an early awakening not with dread but with delight. They anxiously await the yearly ritual that will, perhaps, be the happiest day of the year THIS year too, just like it has been in years past. They wonder about what surprises the day will bring, and what new toys and games they will have to play with. They look forward to celebrating this magical time with some of those closest to them.
I am talking, of course, about Flunk Day.
They don’t know exactly when it will come, or what pleasures will fill campus, but they know it will come, and they know it will bring new and wonderful delights. Nearly every night of spring term, they will go to sleep wondering “is it tomorrow?” As the weeks go by, this question grows louder in their head. A thrill of excitement one night, a scare the next morning, the growing anticipation…
One morning they awake at 5:30, again, to the sounds of whistles and yells, maybe drums, louder and more persistent than the other mornings. The air seems to crackle with a new energy. Could it be? Is this it? Sleep is impossible, but they are afraid to give in to the excitement, in case this is just one more let down. They pace, they check their stores of “Flunk Day booze,” they refresh their e-mail every ten seconds…every five seconds…every two seconds…finally, finally, an e-mail arrives from the Dean of Students: HAPPY FLUNK DAY!
Joy breaks loose. Elated, students run around their suite, house, or apartment building, screaming the news everybody already knows…IT’S FLUNK DAY! An excitement almost too great to contain forces them to slow down, consider their next move, and pour their first screwdriver, Irish car bomb, or other "morning" drink of choice. Perhaps now there is a moment of subdued excitement with suitemates, joy overwhelming still, but the action slow. A drink or two, a nalgene filled with a delicious beverage, and it’s time to venture forth. The day is still new, a morning chill in the air, dew on the grass. Friends are everywhere, covered in mud, laughing, dancing Tunak in the street. A sense of anticipation still fills the air – what sights will fill campus later today? When the mud has been (mostly) hosed off and the morning naps taken, what will the rest of the day bring?
I don’t know what today brought for Knox students. In years past, this day brought to me so many things, including karaoke, a concert by a band I love, arts and crafts, drink of the gods, naps under bushes, sunburns, hookah, a petting zoo, a memory with a boyfriend, a memory with a friend, a Shakespeare paper (maybe not the best year,) my siblings, dancing, singing, skipping, picnics. Every year brought an infectious sense of joy and excitement, a bond with my friends, new friends, old friends, memories that will last forever, a deeper love for my college and community, and a sense of true delight in where I was, what I was a part of, and a day meant for nothing but enjoyment of it all.
It’s a day I still love and look forward to, though for the last three years it has been bittersweet. I suspect that Knox graduates around the world today are walking with an extra spring in their step, but an extra wistfulness in their eyes. I know I am.
Happy Flunk Day Knox – I hope you enjoyed today. It really is the most magical day of the year!
HAPPY FLUNK DAY HANNAH!
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