To say that I am disappointed in the student body is a major understatement. The amount of participation, or lack thereof, that I have seen so far this week is pathetic.

Here’s a short list of the excuses people make for not participating and why they are completely invalid:

“I didn’t know what to wear.”

Each day of this week has a theme – Beach Day, KC Day, Around the World, Throwback Thursday, and Class Colors Day. Each theme seems pretty self-explanatory, but if you do not understand what they are supposed to mean, the simplest way to solve that problem is to ask someone. There’s also this thing on the internet (Google – maybe you’ve heard of it?) where you can look things up.

“I didn’t have anything to wear.”

Be creative. The themes were chosen because of how broad they are – they can be interpreted in so many different ways. It would surprise you what random stuff you can find in your parents closet. You don’t have to go all out (although it’s more fun that way), but it’s not that hard to do the bare minimum. A simple lei on Beach Day, Royals hat on KC Day, or cowboy hat on Around the World day would suffice. Also, with the prizes being raffled off this year I would think more people would participate. Who wouldn’t want to save $25 on homecoming tickets by wearing a lei?

“Spirit week is stupid.”

In my past four years here, I’ve had my fair share of embarrassing moments, but none of them have come from participating in spirit week. You are not too cool to dress up in a funny costume and show your school spirit. If you are afraid to dress up because of what people will think, just know that there are other people who dressed up too and you guys are the real winners here.

If you’ve participated this week, shout out to you. If you haven’t, there’s still time to redeem yourself. I hope to see more participation the rest of the week and in February during Heart of the West Week.

Juliane