This Saturday, Erskine hosted its 175th birthday party. There were events such as ghost tours, a silent auction, a fire performance, the Erskine homecoming soccer game, and so much more. I wish I could write about everything that was going on that day, but unfortunately, I only did about half of the activities.
I began my day as an Erskine Student Ambassador. The Admissions Office hosted an event for prospective students and all of the Student Ambassadors were paired off and were put in charge of a tour group. My tour partner was my sophomore friend, Kasey.
We gave a tour to a group of 5 families and I felt so lucky to have Kasey be in charge. Since I’m a freshman, I’m still learning what I need to say on tours and how I need to say it. Kasey glossed over whatever I missed in an easy and informative manner. Basically, I’m saying that we rocked our tour.
After the tour, I headed to Erskinefest with my friend Grace. We were both starving, so we rushed to be one of the first people in line for lunch. At lunch, we met up with our friends John and Ives.
After we finished eating, we went to pick up passports that had the schedule of events on one side, and fifteen different opportunities to get stamps on the other side. Erskine students with five stamps could get Convo credit for the day, and anybody with 5, 10, or 15 stamps could be a part of a drawing for a prize that would take place at the end of the day. I had the small job of giving out one of three special stamps during the early afternoon. My stamping improved so much by the end of the day.
Anyway, my first activities after lunch were to play corn hole and to jump on the bouncy castles. I wasn’t able to get Convo credit for the bouncy castle, but it was totally worth it.
After we left the bouncy castles, Grace, John, and Ives left to go do more activities while I spent time with my family. My parents and my older brother came to Erskinefest in the middle of the afternoon. We spent a little time at Subway, but then looked at the Archives in Reid Hall, climbed the towers in the Erskine Building, attended the Erskine men’s soccer game, and watched the parade of floats go down Main Street. Erskinefest was already a lot of fun, but it was even more fun to experience it with my family.
Finally, to conclude my day, I got to see a fire performance and then I danced with my friends to the music by The Fantastic Shakers. Let me just say that THE FIRE PERFORMANCE WAS SO COOL AND I WANTED TO CRY. IT WAS SO AWESOME. Seriously. My friends told me that when one performer was doing acts with a flaming hula hoop, my eyes were huge and my mouth was hung open the entire time. I totally believe them because IT WAS SO AWESOMELY AMAZING. Then one performer BREATHED FIRE. Ahhhh, I had been looking forward to that all day and that surpassed all of my expectations.
The music was really good too. Throughout the day, there were various bands and singers performing, including Erskine’s own Choraleers and Gospel Choir. In my opinion, the last band, The Fantastic Shakers, was the best. The musicians alternated between old, jazzy songs and more current, popular songs. It was a lot of fun to dance to, but I got so tired out!
Most birthday parties just have cake, a few friends, and gifts. This birthday party blew all other parties out of the window. Way to go, Erskine! I can’t wait until your 200th birthday!
WAIT. Matt was on campus and DID NOT COME SAY HI TO ME? O.O