As underclassmen headed for the quad to begin lunch on Oct. 15, they were probably expecting to eat lunch calmly and talk to friends. Instead, they saw two girls walking uncomfortably close to them while singing (screaming?) the lyrics to “All Star” by Smash Mouth and “TiK ToK” by Ke$ha.

Inspired by QPark, a YouTuber who films himself singing and dancing in public to popular music like “FEFE” and “In My Feelings,” we decided to see students’ reactions to our singing in public (and secretly hoped we would be something of sensation-causing hit).

During a Falcon class period, we nervously brainstormed for an hour trying to find a well-known song that was the perfect blend of classy and trashy to make lunch-eaters uncomfortable.

When someone suggested a classic song from the “Shrek” soundtrack, we instantly knew we had found the perfect option. No one would be able to resist a good old “Shrek” song. However, we could not have been more incorrect.

Holding up a sign that said “sing along if you know the lyrics,” we walked up to our first victims: a group of freshman girls chatting by a row of lockers. We were pretty nervous to start with. At best, we could get a couple kids to have fun and sing with us, and at worst, we could be humiliated and shunned by underclassmen.

Since we vaguely knew the freshmen, some of them eventually sang along with us, probably out of pity. Passers-by were extremely confused as to what was going on and made sure to not approach us, as though we were reeking of BO.

Motivated by our mild success with the first group, we made our way to another group of freshmen; however, we were met with very different results.

At first sight, two of them could not bear the sound of our screeching, and felt so repulsed that they left. We enthusiastically sang to the remaining survivors and were met with blank stares. Eventually they turned their backs on us and resumed their conversations.

One kind-hearted freshman girl sang along but probably only because she felt bad that the rest of her friends refused to look at us.

For our grand finale, we decided to creep behind the bushes by the office and pop out, screaming “Tik Tok” at freshman boys eating at their tables. They refused to acknowledge our presence, and carried on with their conversations.

This whole experience was embarrassing at first, but once we decided that we should go all out without caring what others thought, it became a lot more fun.

Although our hopes of starting a flash mob of singing didn’t pan out, we managed to get interesting reactions from people, and eventually stopped being self-conscious of others’ judgments as we just enjoyed ourselves.