By Gillian McGoldrick
Entertainment Editor
Ever walk into a room with everyone cheering for you? All of the people around you just celebrating you, for being you? This is how Challenge Day on February 21 began in Neshaminy High School: Adults and friends standing in the entrance of Gym 1 jumping up and down excited for every student that walked through that door, most of them not even knowing each other. Prior to this celebration, everyone sat down in the “U” shaped semi-circle and sat awkwardly, some knowing that their day ahead of them would be life-changing. And from my experience with it, that is exactly what it was.
Challenge Day is based on three things to “Be the Change you want to see in the world,”: Notice, Choose, and Act. We learned this throughout the day, but it did not come with the snap of your fingers. It began very uncomfortable: silly games where students and advisers that were strangers to each other had to sit on each other’s laps, lock arms with another stranger and dance with them with your butts touching each other’s, or even tell a random person who your hero is. Leaders Jen Wilson and Schan Baker kept repeating this phrase: “You can’t get through the day without at least 3 hugs.” So as you could assume, there was also a ton of hugging. Especially many hugs with strangers.
Challenge Day was made famous by the hit MTV show “If You Really Knew Me…” about two years ago. Our advisers had been on the show prior to being our mentors. With many of the games to make us feel uncomfortable being cut from the show and the emotional parts kept on, many students who had seen this show had misconceptions about what exactly Challenge Day would do for them. Sophomore and first-time participant, Tori Cancel, explains her different expectations for the emotional day she had: “Going into Challenge Day, I thought I wasn’t going to open up to anybody. I didn’t think I would react how I did,” Cancel said. “By the end of the day, I felt so much closer to every single person in the room even if I hadn’t talked to them. I felt like we all had a connection in some way.”
We were put into groups of six, with at least one boy and one adviser per group. We pulled our chairs real close so our knees could touch (with a box of tissues in the middle of course) and began to tell the people in our group that “If you really knew me, you would know…” With many wounds I thought had healed, were found to have just been scabbed over and not fully healed, causing me to blubber all of my words. My other group members shared their stories and made me thankful for those around me and the support I have. They not only made me appreciate how my life is, but also opened my eyes that every person I see is also setting up a front of so-called “happiness.”
Courtney Miller, a sophomore and leader for this year’s Challenge Day, found that there were many kids this year she did not expect to see with traumatic stories. “This year was much more emotional and different from last year with many different stories. The people in my group lived traumatic lives and made me thankful for what I have.”
Prior to the small group activities, our mentors from the Challenge Day organization put on sad symphonies to get us in the mood to “Cross the Line.” We were all put on one side of the gym and when Wilson read a sentence, if it were true to you and your family, you were to cross the line and face the other participants. With many people crossing under categories I would never have expected, especially the category of “If you have ever lost someone due to gang violence,” I was shocked. I also shocked myself on how many things I actually did cross for, not even realizing some of them were such big problems. Many other participants found this, also.
Dominique Escudero, a sophomore and first-year participant, found Challenge Day helpful to her in many aspects. “Challenge Day made me look at everyone through their eyes” Escudero said. “I think everyone should be able to be a part of it because you realize everyone has a story and everyone has their own problems. I would like to be a part of it every year and help people rethink bullying.”
After writing to letters to someone we appreciate and love, then sharing some shocking stories of things I had no idea that went on in teenager’s lives were said up on the microphone, Wilson and Baker began empowering us to “Be The Change.” They spoke of the three steps to actually changing something “Notice, Choose, Act.” These steps are run internationally with the Challenge Day program, helping schools make big changes that were once ignored.
Now that it has almost been a full month since Challenge Day, where does Neshaminy stand? Guidance counselor Vanessa Robtison speaks of a lot of support for the program from the Middletown Community Foundation and Chik-Fil-A. “We definitely see the new connections in Neshaminy and get a lot of feedback from students. Many students come back the very next day prior to Challenge Day and sign right up for next year to be a leader.” Robtison said. “One girl came to me and told me her and her former best friend reunited on Challenge Day, realizing they both were fighting battles that could not be won without the help of each other.”
A club aside from the Change It Up Club, the Challenge Day Club, is beginning this Thursday, March 14 in G207. This new club is to be run by English teacher, Kate Livingstone: “I naturally like helping people and have worked with the social workers to find a way to keep the Challenge Day motives in our school. I also am a firm believer in the Challenge Day values.”
For Neshaminy to be able to really change and bring the Challenge Day values to everyone, more students need to be involved. If the climate of the school after many recent and painful losses of friends the only thing keeping Challenge Day to a minimum, then it is understandable. In my opinion, if lack of funding is the only thing keeping students and teachers from finding connections and opening their eyes to the troubles of those around them, more funding definitely should be found. More students should get the opportunity before they graduate to participate in something as empowering as Challenge Day.
