Student Council Hosts First Ever Beach Ball
Last weekend, students donned their favorite beach attire and headed to Grainger Auditorium for the first ever Beach Ball dance, hosted by the Student Council. The outfits ranged from Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts to bathing suit tops and swim trunks. As multi-colored lights filled the room, students danced to music of all different genres from the local DJ. Additionally, a photobooth packed with props such as inflatable flamingos, inflatable palm trees, beach balls and a beach-themed backdrop greeted the students as they entered. The dance provided Exonians an outlet to have fun with friends as they approach the middle of spring term and anticipate the warmer weather.
Beach Ball’s conception stemmed from the Student Council’s Recreation Committee, as well as the old and new Executive Board. They wanted to give students another dance and had to quickly piece together an idea.
“We only started working on this two weeks ago, so it took a lot of teamwork and cooperation between Rec and Exec, and we managed to plan and order everything in that short period of time,” said upper Janeva Dimen, a co-head of the Recreation Committee.
Many different ideas went into planning, with several changes made to the original concept. In the end, they decided on a theme and put together a proposition. “I thought that they had put a lot of effort into coming with not just the theme, but also the details of the theme, like what kind of decorations they would have and what kind of music,” said Assistant Director of Student Activities Kelly McGahie. She loved how much energy and action was put into the ideas and went on board with the plan, even if there were only two weeks until the event occurred.
Originally, the student council was planning to host a talent show. “They were getting feedback from their constituents, probably from their dorms and the community, and from the student council meeting that a talent show would be really fun, but that they preferred the idea of having another big dance for the year,” said McGahie.
After the plans had been established, the Recreation Committee and Executive Board advertised this event by going around the campus and taping paper beach balls on the dorm doors, posting posters around the campus and sending out both schoolwide and council-wide emails.
Students expressed mixed feelings about the dance. The decorations seemed to appease most students in the room, but there were different reactions towards the song selection. “It’s not that bad in terms of ambience, but the music could be a lot better,” said lower David Gonzalez.
Others thoroughly enjoyed the music, namely lower Cristal Reyes. “The dance was kind of slow to start with, but they started playing some fun beats and it was pretty good,” she said. Prep Violet Goldstone voiced a similar opinion, saying, “This dance was really cool because I like how everyone followed the theme of beach, and I think it was a really nice way to welcome in the spring.”
To some, the fact that Beach Ball took place right after Saturday classes affected the dance’s attendance. “I was just too tired from Saturday classes,” prep Alana Yang said. However, for Goldstone, the dance was a way to relieve the stress of Saturday classes.
Even with such little time to plan the dance, the Student Council’s Recreation Committee and the old and new Executive Board put their best efforts toward this new dance. They displayed their commitment to giving Exonians another chance to dance their stress away, and overall, students loved the opportunity to relax and let loose.