Traditions

As a Freshman in high school, driving through the middle of my town on the Friday night of the Homecoming football game was definitely an adventure. With the car doors locked, I remember watching the rowdy seniors, dressed in all black, as they ran from sidewalk to sidewalk, and blew their whistles loud enough for the whole town to hear. Smiling in amazement from the organized chaos around me, I slowly began to anticipate the day in which I could get this same crazy night for myself. Now, as a senior, I look back to last Friday night, and smile at the fun of it all. It is a tradition that most students at my high school look forward to ever since their first Homecoming game freshman year. It is the thrill of blowing the whistles, running around the crosswalks, and freezing or "mosh pitting" in the middle of the main intersection. Running around for hours, this tradition will definitely be a highlight of my senior year. However, if you were to ask me how this tradition started, or why the senior class runs around like a bunch of lunatics, I would not have an answer for you. In fact, I don't know if anybody in my grade knows why we do this crazy tradition. It is a strange thing that the action of a tradition can many times drown out the origins or the reasons behind it. However, I believe that the pure actions of a tradition are strong enough to keep the tradition alive, no matter what its origins.

For example, in a friend of mine's youth group there is a tradition for people to write funny "ransom notes" for others. Then, at the end of a youth group event, the people targeted in the "ransom notes" would recite a monologue from a movie, impersonate someone, serenade a stranger in another language, or do some other, non-discriminatory and non-hurtful, task. Even though this tradition is now one of the highlights of my friend's youth group, its origins are not so bright. The tradition started off in the 1970s when a girl would be teased in the youth group and given "ransom notes" in order to get her stuff back that was stolen from her. Now, that harsh story is long forgotten by most people in the youth group, and it has turned into a fun, healthy, and eventful tradition.

According to its definition, a tradition is something that is handed down. It is not necessary for the origins or intent of a tradition to be known in order for it to be considered a tradition. Rather, the mere action and continuation of a tradition is strong enough for it to last. In the end, I do not know why I ran around in the middle of my town with my fellow seniors. However, I do know that it was a blast, and it is something that I want future seniors to have the opportunity to experience as well. For me, that is a good enough reason for the tradition to last.