Senior Blackout is a tradition every student at Whitney Young looks forward to in their years here. The seniors that year run amok in Blue House; chanting, dancing, and doing whatever they’d like for the short time they’re permitted. This year, when the Homecoming dance was moved three weeks after holiday Yom Kippur, Class Color Day was pushed to October 20th. After hyping themselves up for the week planning their Blackout traditions, the class of ‘18 had to start from scratch and prepare for the new date. Kellianne Bazzell ‘18 has also recounted the process in her own Beacon article, seen here.

As soon as the change was announced, Sofia Rabiela ‘18 posted the following in the class’s Facebook group: “can we do a senior spirit week the week before the dance? That way we can… come up [with] fun themes.” Immediately following Rabiela’s post, the senior class erupted with possible days. Ideas ranged from “dress like an ackie day” to “celebrity

day”.

After dozens of suggestions, Chris Nguyen ‘18 and myself decided on the following days:

Monday: Senior Citizen Day and Decades Day

Tuesday: Hawaiian/Beach Day

Wednesday: Breast Cancer Awareness Day (Pink)

Thursday: Sports/Jersey Day

Friday: Class Color Day (Blackout)

The week has now been filled with creativity coming from the class of ‘18 seniors, ranging from bringing walkers on Monday to wearing head to toe pink on Wednesday. As the week has passed, participation by seniors has grown higher and higher, with word spreading fast via social media and word of mouth. With Senior Spirit Week being a complete accident, the question is whether to continue the newfound tradition. Either way, it was an amazing experience to be a part of to show our class pride, and I hope to see it embraced by future seniors!