Sophomores power through quad day despite low participation

Sophomores Patrick Keogh, Shirina Cao and Ananya Rav dancing during the group dance.

While struggling with low interest and changing the choreography too often, the sophomore class had a rather stressful Homecoming.

The sophomores’ dynamic dances and energetic K-pop dances wowed the quad on Sept. 20 themed after “Monster’s Inc.” With an estimate of 30 people participating, the skit included characters like Boo, played by sophomore Lavanya Bose; Randall, played by Nila Venkataratnam; Sulley, played by Blue Chankhunthod; and Mike, played by Sophie Qin. The performance featured Boo getting kidnapped by Randall, Sulley and Mike.

Photo by Neal Malhotra

Sophomore Bill Huang jumps over sophomores Bryan Zhao, Sachin Sanakr and Vedant Padhid during the boys’ dance.

The sophomore class officer group began their preparations for quad day in August. Having learned from last year’s experience, where they were poor with time management, the officers created calendars to coordinate dance practices and decoration sessions for participants. Despite the early planning, they still struggled with low participation.

“Last year it [participation] shot up after some last-minute signups,” sophomore treasurer Samvrith Bandi said. “There really wasn’t much interest [at the beginning], which makes the dances really hectic as [people] sign up later.”

Not only was the participation for decorating poor this year — there were only about 10 people who showed up for decorations — but the sophomores were nearly disqualified when one of its members threw a red paintbrush at a roof.

The sophomores were faced with another problem after finding out they were only allowed to have five dances, which only applies to sophomores and freshmen. As a result, they had to change their initial plans.

“We had to decide between K-pop and Bollywood, but since the K-pop dances had more progress, we removed the Bollywood dance,” class president Jena Lew said.

In addition, some choreography was also delayed due to song changes, as seniors and juniors got priority for picking their songs.

Ultimately, the sophomores came up with many ideas at the last-minute, but they eventually came together and managed to score higher than the freshmen.

“I’m pretty happy with it. It was a really fun experience,” Bandi said. “Next year, we’ll try to increase participation.”