Wednesday, May 18
It’s the seniors’ stage now, but the world waits in the wings
By Alexandra Orlov ’13
Though well attended by seniors, this Bingo game is not for the elderly. As pop music blasts through the large white tent on Dunham Quad, Lindsay DeVellis ’11 and Sam Hincks ’11 shimmy and shake in a “dance-off.” The competition is fierce; the two both got Bingo and must now break the tie. The dancer who gets the loudest cheers will win a collection of “Girls’ Night In” items.
After finishing spring semester, seniors unwind from academics during the tradition known as Senior Week. As they await Commencement, students relax and live it up during their final days on campus. The week is packed with such entertaining diversions as inflatable games and an ice cream truck, a hoedown complete with mechanical bull, a formal dance, a steak and lobster dinner, a Saranac Brewery tour and more. Whew!
Today’s offering features Big-Prize Bingo, an activity put on by Student Activities during both Freshman Orientation and Senior Week. Four years ago, these same students gathered together as anxious newcomers and scoped out classmates while hoping to win some dorm swag. Now the accomplished soon-to-be graduates are relishing their remaining time with friends. They chatter while intently minding Bingo cards and plastic red chips. Every so often there’s a collective groan as a gust of wind scatters chips. On the line: $750 worth of prizes.
“We had a game plan,” Landrey Mack ’11 quips of his buddy Mike Bellis ’11, “but he’s not performing well.” Laura Smith ’11 rolls her eyes at her jokester friends.
In the dance-off, the crowd howls — and cheers — equally for DeVellis and Hincks, but in the end, Hincks chivalrously allows DeVellis to take the majority of booty.
Four days away: real life. Bingo!
