Sophomore Nikil Ramanathan stood outside of chemistry teacher Bob Kucer’s classroom, coughing, gagging and nearly vomiting. This wasn’t because of Kucer’s notoriously challenging tests, or even an upset stomach. Ramanathan was merely suffering from the effects of the self-imposed cinnamon challenge.

The cinnamon challenge is a competition in which a person attempts to eat or swallow a spoonful of ground cinnamon without drinking anything.

“I mean, I saw the YouTube videos [of people doing the cinnamon challenge] and thought that people were just weak and that I could do it,” Ramanathan said. “I’ve learned my lesson.”

Ramanathan’s fateful challenge began over Facebook. Students brazenly pledged to do the challenge if they received an A on the Kucer test. Ramanathan, however, said he did it even though he did not receive an A on the test.

On a Monday tutorial outside of Kucer’s classroom, sophomore Jason Li, who had also pledged to do the challenge, poured out ground cinnamon onto a green spoon and handed it to Ramanathan.

As Ramanathan prepared to eat the cinnamon, a crowd gathered around to witness the feat.

“Don’t get too close,” sophomore Eric Taw warned. “He’s going to spit it all over you.”

Kucer, standing by the doorway, questioned the safety of the experiment. In the YouTube video, he can be heard asking, “Is this safe to do?”

“Mostly, maybe,” students responded.

Ramanathan put the cinnamon in his mouth and swallowed tensely for a few seconds. Then, his face contorted in agony and he started spewing clouds of cinnamon.

“He’s smoking cinnamon!” Kucer exclaimed.

Ramanathan later said, “My mouth was extremely dry and all I could feel was a burning sensation at the back of my throat.”

Gagging, Ramanathan began to spit out cinnamon.

“Luckily for me, Mr. Kucer (who was not involved in the challenge) was nice enough to give me a water bottle after watching my wretched experience.”

Senior beats cinnamon challenge

Senior Louise Guy was at a soccer team dinner when she first found out about the cinnamon challenge. An assistant coach had lost a bet, and as a result, he was forced to do the cinnamon challenge. Naturally, Guy was eventually challenged.

“Of course I had to try it,” she said.

Guy seemed confident in a video that recorded her challenge. She took the spoon, put the cinnamon in her mouth and promptly turned red. As giddy teammates grinned in the background, Guy took out her cell phone and casually started using it. In the end, she was victorious.

“It’s awful, I’d only do it again if someone dared me or something,” Guy said. “Cinnamon is like really fine sawdust, and you can’t swallow it. It’s spicy and gross and sticks to your mouth.”
Even so, Guy said that she would do it again.

“I could win so many bets with my new-found talent,” Guy said.

However, her brother, sophomore Will Guy, said that she cheated by letting the cinnamon soften in her mouth before she swallowed it.

“Just because I wasn’t stupid does not mean I cheated,” she retorted.