SENIOR PERSPECTIVE: THE IMSA BALL
WRITTEN BY JACKIE
When
I was younger, every time I had to take a big test, my mom would give me
chocolate as a snack. Through ISATs and ACTs and SATs, it’s become a sort of a
good luck charm, a preemptive reward for hard work. Two years ago before my
very last finals of sophomore year, I tore open a paper wrapper to take a bite
into a dark block of bitter chocolate. Disappointed, I closed the package and
let it sit in my fridge until I moved back home. Now, I kind of wish I had
bitten through the bitterness and tasted the sweetness inside.
My
last May at IMSA is kind of like that. There was a lot of initial bitterness for
me on May 1st. I committed to a college that wasn’t my top choice and watched
my friends announce schools like Caltech, MIT, and UChicago. I felt crushingly
disappointed that I wouldn’t be one of those glittering pupils headed to an Ivy,
but I didn’t dwell on it. I couldn’t, because something more important was
coming up—prom, the midnight ball of every Disney Channel movie of my childhood.
 |
| Jackie Wu getting asked to prom! |
Preparations
were stressful; there’s no denying it.
For months, there was a list taped to my desk that I slowly checked off
as May 8th approached: buy dress, get alterations, buy shoes, book
hair and makeup. The week after spring break, I got asked with cupcakes and
roses by my friend who’s lived on the same street as me since 4th
grade, and right after that, the girls of our group had to scramble to get a
full table together and collect forms and money for tickets. The night before
prom, I lay awake in my bed, going over my packed schedule and the terrible
looming weather forecast of “thunderstorms all day”. The night of the 7th came and
went, and by the time I woke up, it was D-Day.
 |
| Somie Park and Jackie Wu |
Despite
the muggy weather, sweltering heat, and pouring rain, it was an amazing night,
thanks to our senior class club, which my lovely quadmate Rhea Harsoor is a
part of. We left IMSA just as it started raining and arrived at Brookfield Zoo
an hour later, where we were given a motor tour and had hors d'oeuvres at the
underwater bear exhibit, where many pictures were taken and many hairdos were
wilted in the humid air. Then, after a quick ride at the carousel, we arrived
at the venue for our prom, where we were seated and served dinner. After that,
there was dancing. Despite the sweaty and crowded dancefloor and certain
questionable choices from the DJ, everybody had an amazing time. At around
midnight for our post prom, we arrived at Brunswick Zone for bowling, arcade
games, and laser tag.
 |
| From left to right: Rhea Harsoor, Jackie Wu, Somie Park, and Sara Nookala |
At
2 in the morning, we had all packed up and gotten back in our buses for the
drive back to IMSA. As I sat sleepily in the bus, I realized that I was
approaching the last few minutes of my senior prom. The seniors who sat in the
bus have been with me for the past 3 years, and we share so many incredible
memories, from our very first meeting in 2012 at orientation to this quiet
moment in 2015 in the middle of the night on a dark bus headed back to school.
I wondered if sophomore me would have thought this way, or if I would have just
seen my classmates as contenders for spots at prestigious universities, people
to measure up against in the eyes of admissions counselors. The past 3 years
were hard, definitely, but there are some truly precious moments that come with
3 years of work and stress and disappointments, moments that made me into a
better person. If I were the same person I was 3 years ago, I don’t think I
would have been able to look past who got accepted where and see my classmates
as companions instead of competition. In 2 weeks I will be graduating and
leaving this part of my life behind, and even though it’s been months since
I’ve taken a standardized test, I’m so glad that I didn’t give up and kept on
going through the bitterness to reach the sweet prize in the middle of the
chocolate bar.
 |
| From left to right: Bhairvi Shah, Sharon Johnson, Patty Li, Airshwarya Raj, Somie Park, and Jackie Wu |
SOPHOMORE PERSPECTIVE:WEEKEND AT IMSA'S
WRITTEN BY EMMA MATTSON
When
looking at what constitutes a high school experience, IMSA’s experience or life
is more difficult to describe because there are simply more facets of life at
IMSA than there would be at a normal high school. IMSA not only excels in
academia, it strives to create a welcoming home for all of its students, and
many of its students pick up this dream, working as wing leaders to foster a
positive encouraging environment for their wing during the week. What happens during
the weekend is totally off book and different every weekend.
In the
entirety of my sophomore year, I’ve only stayed at IMSA 5 or 6 weekends (out of
the maybe 40 weeks), and each time has been different. This last time I was
finishing up a research paper, and I spent a lot of time with one of the few of
my friends who had stayed the weekend. I
remember a time last semester when I stayed a weekend (it was near the end of
the semester), and I worked all Saturday on a variety of assignments, but there
just always seemed to be more work to complete.
One
weekend I stayed, I spent the whole time with my friends, eating meals and
working together on math projects. Staying
the weekend at IMSA definitely shows one a different side of the campus—it’s
much emptier and much quieter. It can be lonely—on most weekends, few people
remain. It can be freeing—not worrying about appearances or sleeping in too
late and missing a class. It can be beautiful—walking back to the residential
hall, and looking up at the sky full of bright stars.
One
thing most IMSA students praise about IMSA is its deep, connected, diverse,
meaningful community. On the weekends, however, a good portion of this
community has gone home. What remains creates a different community, perhaps
spending time with people you wouldn’t normally see, or visiting a place you
normally wouldn’t have the time too.
Staying the weekend can be an immensely rewarding experience.
Of
course, that’s just one IMSA student’s experience, and I wouldn’t want to claim
to speak for the whole IMSA population. There
are lots of hard things too. But, I guess you could say, that’s life, and life
at IMSA can certainly be beautiful.
0 comments:
Post a Comment