It was just after the residence halls closed when excited seniors made their way to the Sports Center for one of many anticipated events in their college career. They were decked out in baggy layers, color-block bomber jackets, frizzy hairstyles, and scrunchies.
Throughout the Sports Center, seniors wore their ’90s-themed, light blue senior shirts with the phrase “Live It!” along with their senior class verse. Emily Young (AL), senior class secretary, explained, “Our class is part of the last ’90s babies, so the throwback design is a little nostalgic, but still trendy and fun. Our class verse, James 1:22, was featured on our class shirt because it is the inspiration behind our theme for this year—to Live It. This shirt serves as a little reminder of everything our class has accomplished and learned in our time at PCC.”
The senior class chose what they wanted to eat from a selection of pre-packaged meals from Moe’s Southwest Grill, Hungry Howie’s pizza, and Chick-fil-A. They even chose when to end their class party by a vote. The chosen time to end the party—12:15 a.m.—reflects their desire to stay up to celebrate their accomplishments together, while also betraying them to be the tired college students that they are.
After naming some senior class superlatives such as “Best Hair” to Mark Brown (OH) and “Most Outgoing” to Trey Mayfield (FL), the group split up to enjoy their favorite activities around the Sports Center. Many seniors went out to First Street Field to try out the Segways used by Campus Security, while some veterans of PCC Security proudly raced each other through the tracks.
“It is so hard to believe that our senior year is coming to a close,” Emily said. “Our senior class party has been highly anticipated since we were freshmen—everyone has been dying to ride the Segways! Now that it’s here, I think that it’s more of a celebration of everything we’ve accomplished and the friendships we’ve made.”
“As someone who hasn’t spent a lot of time in the Sports Center since my first year of college, it was a really nostalgic event to have the party in there rather than outside,” said Kaitlin Alfaro (Canada). “The glow-in-the-dark bowling was fun, especially considering I tied a game with my fiancé.”
The end of the night was punctuated by a sentimental gesture from the senior class officers. As the senior class gathered together in the Sports Center Arena to close out the night, senior class officers handed out mugs featuring the graphic from the T-shirt—a memento for the seniors to remember their last hurrah together.
“Everybody who was there had a spirit of wanting to enjoy themselves. The atmosphere was great, and instead of being sad to go, everyone was happy to remember the good times they’ve had,” said Simon Haughey (ME), who’s looking forward to marrying Elizabeth Plain (IN) this summer. “The class party really helped drive home the fact that graduation is just around the corner.”
This year’s senior class may be ending their time at PCC, but their lives will continue elsewhere through careers, higher education, starting their own families, and being “doers of the word, and not hearers only.”