Serendipity week started this year on Monday, March 24 and included a Speakeasy Night, Late Night Breakfast, Roll Bounce Party and Pajama Jam to celebrate Guilford College’s students.
However, this year’s Serendipity was celebrated tremendously differently than past years’ Serendipity weeks.
“I was bringing my class up to the gym, and a bunch of naked people were running at us, screamin’ — that’s my first experience with Serendipity. They had, like a mud battle at the lake.”
He ponders the question a little longer.
“It’s toned down so much this year I didn’t even know they had it. Yeah, Serendipity decided to dip.”
Coach Zane Chamra has been teaching at Guilford College for 25 years. He currently teaches the Early College at Guilford PE class.
Over the years, Chamra has felt like the Serendipity events have been slowly dwindling down and losing their signature wild nature. A reason for this could be the cancellation of Lakefest.
“Lakefest in the Spring of 2022 was a core moment for me, it was so fun and really brought everyone together,” said Cassie Berry, a student at Guilford College.
Robin Tucker, a sophomore at Guilford College, had never participated in Lakefest before, but had heard about it from her friends.
“Everyone I know who did it was really, really sad that it got canceled, because apparently it was a lot of fun,” Tucker said.
Students at Guilford College speculated why Lakefest was canceled, with several of them guessing that it was due to inadequate funding. But there could be an upside to this.
“Lakefest being cancelled was sad to hear about, but not unexpected,” Berry said. “I would rather the school work towards improving financially and sacrifice Lakefest for a year.”
Berry realized that it was for the overall benefit of Guilford College to cancel Lakefest this year, with the financial struggles the college has been going through.
But even through financial struggles, Serendipity celebrations still held up. A rollerskating night was held in the Guilford College gym. A midnight breakfast was held this year that many Guilford College students were able to enjoy.
“I was really excited about the food related events,” Berry said. “I’m a huge breakfast person, so late night breakfast was great.”
Berry had a packed schedule and she had to balance classes, an internship and a thesis, so she missed several Serendipity events, but she made sure to attend her favorite ones.
Another popular event was the Speakeasy in Rachel’s. The enthusiastic cottage hosted a speakeasy where students could get mocktails and other drinks Rachel’s would make on the spot.
“Rachel’s was kind of rearranged and redecorated, it was really nice. It was really fun,” said Tucker.
“Last year as a freshman, I had no idea what Serendipity was and didn’t really participate,” said Tucker. She thinks that the events were better publicly advertised this year, as she was able to take part in two activities.
One complaint the students had surrounding Serendipity was the amount of faculty involvement in the events.
“I think there was some disappointment around, like, the level of faculty input and like participation, because it should be more student centered,” said Tucker.
Tucker said she had seen a lot of faculty at the events, and that it had felt just a little “weird” for her.
“It should be more a student-run event for students,” said Tucker.
Even though this year the Serendipity festivities may not have been as crazy and wild as previous years, the students still found ways to enjoy the Serendipity parties throughout the week set up by Terra Roane, the director of Guilford College’s Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (OSLE).
This year’s Serendipity serves as a valuable reminder that even without carnivals or food trucks or huge crazy parties, the students of Guilford College can still have a great time within the Guilford College community.
