Wednesday/Thursday – Hey Day – Day 268/269
Posted on 2nd May 2013
This post is probably going to be quite the disappointment for all those extra readers I seem to have suddenly accrued. No delicious stories of malicious manipulation. At least for the time being…
Wednesday was “Hey Day” – the day when Juniors become Seniors and all undergrads shift to the next class year up. This tradition reaches back to 1916, modelled after Syracuse University’s ‘moving up’ ceremony. It is best characterized by the large numbers of rising Seniors marching around campus in red shirts with canes and fake straw hats.
Today I felt like a senior, part of the graduating class as, at least for the meantime I would not be returning to the “majestic halls with ivy overgrown” for at least the near future. I was with a heavy heart that I joined the seniors in their final celebration. Waking up in the morning, I was greeted to site of people having early drinks in my living room, courtesy of my two roommates.
I readied myself for the day, dressed up in my best blue, as all seniors were doing and headed off to the party Penn was throwing for us. I stood in line, worrying that I might not really be a senior, but it all worked out in the end. I even signed up to be an interviewer of future Penn applicants! What excitement!
After that it was time for Amy Gutmann’s speech and the actual ceremony, which was to precede mass, campus wide intoxication.
Penn Police as usual were out in force to prevent any problems, but everything seemed under control. I hung around the part for a while before heading off to Hillel to chill with people and then a nap.
Wednesday night, I unsuccessfully tried to study and just ended up hanging out with friends. Not too bad at all.
Thursday was another day that went without significant study. I accomplished a large number of small tasks that I’d been waiting to finish, worked on a few client webpages and overall just took it easy. About midday I was invited by the talented Amalya Lehmann to attend the symphony orchestra with her in the evening to hear a performance of Brahms 2. I eagerly took up the offer and soon we were off! The company was superb. Little did I know it at the time, but alongside the refined Rami Sharif and the understated but excellent Hannah Dardashti (more on her soon too), we were accompanied by a man of mystery, Emil Pitkin, who I would soon come to discover was much more than he appeared.
After the performance I started walking home when I was accosted by a few members of PGC heading to Bacchanalia, a party for students involved in performing arts at Penn. The eventually convinced me to go, but I spent much of my time there playing piano in a side room. I wasn’t quite in the partying mood.
As I walked back from the party I received a text message from a friend close to tears. I raced off to find them and spent the next few hours with them talking before trying to head back to my place. At this point I ran into a slight issue. I had lost the key to my room. This ended up with me waiting outside my apartment for another hour for the locksmith to get there. I need to brush on my ethical lockpicking.