Spring Fling, Successful Despite Rain

As rain bounced off the ground outside on a wet Friday night, Exonians inside the Thompson Gym jumped around a Bouncy Castle and battled classmates during laser tag games in Exeter’s first Spring Fling.

The event, which had originally been planned to continue over a whole weekend with various activities and was then trimmed down to one night, featured portable laser tag, where guns and vests were provided and an arena set up, as well as an enormous bouncy castle and plenty of cookies and brownies.

“We wanted to have a weekend full of events that everyone on campus can be excited about. This year, we could only fit one night into the schedule, but next year it will span an entire weekend,” upper Benj Cohen, who is the current Student Council (StuCo) Secretary and organizer of the night, said. “The event was a success. There was a strong turn out, but more important than turn out, people at the event seemed to have a great time.”

Indeed, the flocks of Exonians that attended the event seemed to agree with Cohen, as they reveled in the free snacks, entertaining games and cheery atmosphere.

“It was wonderful and well organized. They had lots of food, which was nice for someone who did not eat all day,” prep Erik Lee said. “It was really fun and a great way to relieve stress. Shooting paper with laser guns was my favorite part of Spring Fling.”

Even though it began raining mere hours before the start of the occasion, nothing could stop the planners from ensuring a fun night for everyone.

“Spring Fling was great, and it was a bummer that the weather did not get better and they could not have the bouncy castle outside,” lower Hiro Kuwana said. “Everything went well, but it was tough considering a lot of people came and there were some places to go, like the bouncy castle and the laser tag. Kudos to StuCo for the ambition of a Spring event and with the luck of weather, it will be better next year.”

Other Exonians also noticed that the rain took away some of the night’s potential.

“It would have been a lot more festive outside, and people would have been able to run outside more, but given the weather constraints, we had to move it inside, and that was not incredibly detrimental to it,” lower Andrew Tuchler said. “There was plenty of room in the gym.”

Lower Spencer Burleigh added, “The organizers dealt with the rain really well by moving the event inside, and the bouncey house definitely made Spring Fling special, as traditionally teenagers are banned from using them at events.”

Nevertheless, even with the bad weather, Exonians still took the time to enjoy the night and unwind from the previous school week.

“It is nice to have these events for kids to take a break from work or just to be social, because it can really reduce stress,” lower Will Rau said. “It was unique in that it was not just food and sitting around, but it actually had fun, physical activities.”

Students also view occasions like this as important to the Exeter livelihood. As Spring term and school year come to a close, many are bearing the weight of papers, tests and projects, and the Spring Fling provided a temporary escape from it all.

“Events like these are important because they help make students measurably happier,” Cohen said. “Kids here need a release, especially on a Friday night.”

Ultimately, it seemed like the Spring Fling was a way for students to have a bit of fun in the last few weeks of the school year and it helped the Exeter community bond as a whole.

Kuwana said, “It's important to have these since it brings the community together and it has so much potential to be an event everyone wants to go to, a mini carnival at Exeter.”