Last Friday, September 19th, was the school’s pre-homecoming pep rally, which was mainly meant to celebrate our fall sports teams. The main highlight was the football team, who had the much anticipated homecoming game later that day. “This pep rally was mainly getting everyone hyped for the big game,” stated Serafima Chebotareva, a senior who eagerly attended the spirited event, “At the same time, it felt like a celebration of the seniors too, because people kept pointing out that this is our last year. That extra layer made it [the pep rally] more meaningful and kind of bittersweet at the same time.” 

Despite not being on one of the featured sports teams, Serafima didn’t hesitate to participate in the final Homecoming spirit week activity, that being dressing up as your grade level’s designated color. “For seniors, there’s this unspoken expectation to really show up with spirit, so I wanted to contribute to that,” Serafima noted. “Even just being in the stands and cheering felt like being part of the event.” When it came to the pep rally’s games, however, the rally may have fallen flat. “The games this time were things like musical chairs, popping the balloons tied to people’s legs, and tug-of-war. I’ll be honest: I didn’t really love them,” Serafima is willing to admit that while the games were fun to watch in the beginning, they quickly became less exciting. She feels that they definitely could have benefitted from being more creative. “Since pep rallies are supposed to really get everyone pumped up, I think adding different or new activities would make them even better.” 

Any disengagement felt towards the pep rally’s games doesn’t shift focus from Serafima’s main takeaway. “I honestly do enjoy the pep rallies. They’re something I actually look forward to, especially this year […] I think they’re important because they bring everybody together in one space, and you can really feel the energy shift and our school spirit.”  Certainly, pep rallies are what unite Sunlake and bring out the best in students. It allows peers to celebrate the school’s triumphs alongside each other, which quite frankly makes these events utterly memorable.