In case you weren’t at Hewitt’s annual skating party this past Tuesday, November 14, 2011, at Wollman Rink, here’s what you missed:
1) Insanely good hot chocolate (even better than the Hewitt Bistro’s)
2) Really bad radio pop dance songs blasting, which, as much as we hate to admit, are extremely fun to listen to while dancing and skating
3) Hewitt girls of all ages completely wiping out on the ice
4) Beautiful fall weather
5) A great night with your friends
I admit that for the past few years I haven’t gone to the skating party, and I notice this is a trend with most upper school girls, as well as the older middle school students. Upon investigating the matter, I got an array of reasons from the older Hewitt students (wishing to stay anonymous), who explained why they did not attend the Hewitt skating party this year:
One student said she didn’t go to the skating party this year “because it’s 65 dollars a ticket, and that’s kind of a lot to have students pay. My friends decided that they didn’t want to go, so that also kind of influenced my decision. Last year I went, and it wasn’t that amazing because not that many people went.” Another student said, “It’s [difficult to go] during the week and it’s just not fun for older kids; we’ve outgrown it.” Many students said they were too tired after sports to rush to Wollman Rink.
Personally, my excuse for not attending skating parties in the past has been that I’ve had too much homework. However, with such beautiful weather and a light evening course load (accompanied by the grumbling faculty in response to the official no homework night), I decided it was high time to once again take part in this fun, fall festivity. As I skated loop after loop, I saw lower school girls having an absolute ball. Wondering why it was that these girls were having so much fun when my peers had opted out for the most part. I asked a variety of younger Hewitt girls why they love the skating party so much.
Sabrina and Bettina of the 3rd grade said, “We like the skating party because we don’t get to skate too often, we like getting to skate with friends, and the food is good too!”
Caitlin and Vanessa of the 2nd grade said, “We like skating at Wollman rink in Central Park. We wish there would be more skating parties! We should have 2, or 5, or 25, or 100 every year!”
The skating party is a classic example of the evolution of the Hewitt girl from K-12. We excitedly attend the skating party in our younger days, outgrow it near the middle, and love it again as our Hewitt experience comes to a close. From the near 100% attendance of the 2012 seniors, we can see just about everything in Hewitt life comes full circle, including our appreciation of the skating party.