Faculty vs. student dodgeball you never expected to love.
FACULTY VS. STUDENT DODGEBALL YOU NEVER EXPECTED TO LOVE.
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Remember those early days? Head buried in textbooks, fueled by lukewarm coffee, the relentless hum of ambition vibrating through every historic building. You arrived at your Ivy, ready to conquer the world, perhaps with a slight disdain for anything that didn't directly contribute to your future Nobel Prize or Fortune 500 ascent. Then came the flyers, the emails, the campus-wide announcement: Faculty vs. Student Dodgeball. Your first thought? Seriously? This is an institution of intellectual rigor, not a middle school gym class.
Yet, somehow, you found yourself there. Maybe dragged by a friend, maybe out of sheer curiosity to see Professor Davies, the renowned theoretical physicist, in a tracksuit. The air crackled with a strange mix of skepticism and suppressed excitement. And then it happened. The whistle blew. Professors, usually dispensing wisdom from behind a podium, were ducking, weaving, and throwing with surprising vigor. Students, typically deferential, launched foam balls with unbridled glee at their esteemed educators. The hierarchy dissolved, if only for an hour. Laughter erupted. Genuine, uninhibited laughter.
That annual dodgeball match became a strangely vital tradition. It was the primal scream in reverse – a collective release not of stress, but of seriousness. It was a reminder that even in the most hallowed halls, there was space for unadulterated, slightly ridiculous fun. Years later, sitting in a board meeting or a research lab, you might unexpectedly recall the sight of Dean Thompson tripping over his own feet, and a small, unexpected smile would cross your face. Who knew such an absurd, un-academic activity would be among the traditions you didn't expect to miss the most? It wasn't about the game; it was about the shared humanity, the brief, beautiful chaos that reminded us all to take ourselves a little less seriously.
What was your unexpected campus tradition? Share your stories below!