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CAMPUS CULTURE

A Class With Natural Dopamine: Top 7 Reasons to Take Improv

RILEY O ('20) AND LILAH P ('21)
  1. A class in your schedule that is super chill, fun and “educational” ;)

Having an hour block in your day to perfect the art of goofing off is a breath of fresh air (despite the suffocating intimidation of THE black box theater). Country Day students, constantly running around writing papers and studying (cramming) for tests, could all use this daily dose of laughter therapy. Taking Improv is the best way to let out your inner tween.

 

   2.  If you are shy, we can (and will) change that

If you’re someone who is terrible at small talk, this class helps with thinking on your feet and building off what your partner is saying. I can say with 100% certainty that I am so much better at making puns and rhyming than I was at the beginning of the semester.

 

    3. Making fun of yourself (and your friends!)

This class is basically a free-for-all roast session. Come prepared to be roasted by your peers (and Mrs. G), along with throwing some shade of your own. This is all in good fun, of course, but we all know that the roast : encouragement ratio is what really defines a friendship. As two underclassmen girls who thoroughly enjoy embarrassing themselves, we can proudly attest that this is the perfect opportunity to laugh at yourself.

 

    4. Attention Junkies Unite!

The improv show is the crowning jewel of this ~very~ fine art. While it’s nerve racking to make up rhymes and puns on the spot, along with 2 minute scenes, it’s surprisingly rewarding when you hear a crowd of people laughing at a dumb joke you made. Also, you never know what stunts Mrs. G will have you do (ie: spitting a mouthful of water onto a stranger’s pants). Not to mention it’s perfect for attention-whores like us, and Charlie (sorry cuz). If you’re not sold yet, you also get a free dope t-shirt.

 

 

     5. She’s the G.O.A.T (Goodfellow of all time)

She’s known for being a master shade thrower.  If anyone forgets to preview their (borderline inappropriate) videos to share with the class, she definitely won’t hold back. But even when she’s roasting you for eating chocolate and Pepsi for breakfast in her first period class, you know it’s out of love. Not only is she an award winning director, but she’s also a great mentor. If you ever need some good advice, she’s great- unless you want to learn about baseball. Then you might want to refrain.

 

 

 6.  “Wait… Freshmen can be friends with Seniors?!”

Through this class, you’ll build relationships with people you would have never talked to if not for being forced to chant “big booty” at each other. I never thought that I would hear the sound “ahh” so many times within the course of an hour, but thanks to JFlow- I often have the sound stuck in my head on a continuous loop.

 

 

7. Comfort Zones are for the weak

If you want to publicly embarrass yourself by giving a little shout out to an old crush you had at the beginning of the year, this is the perfect opportunity to expose yourself and (accidentally) him (lol sorry bud). While you may fear that you’ll never live down those embarrassing moments, you’ll look back and laugh.

 

“Best art credit I’ve ever done” - Lyle Roddey

HOW TO DRESS LIKE AN ULTIMATE FRISBEE PLAYER

KATIE F ('19)

How to dress like an ultimate frisbee player.

 

As Mick Stukes would say, well hello. Ultimate Frisbee is a growing sport at Country Day, but to walk the walk, you have to look the look. Here are a few insider tricks on how to fit in at a tournament:

 

 

Step 1: Chacos

Every frisbee player has to have a nice pair of chacs. They're great for showing off your sick ankle tan and blisters from your cleats. Their rugged and durable design is perfect for strenuous walks across ultimate frisbee turf (known in common parlance as "grass").

 

Step 2: A very cool but obnoxiously bright shirt

This is important because in the event that your team gets horrifyingly demolished, at least you can look good doing it.

 

Step 3: A sweet looking hat

There are two options for this section-- firstly, you can go with a baseball cap, but it has to have some kind of ultimate frisbee logo on it so that way people know what sport you play. Also acceptable are hats with the logos of companies that make ultimate frisbee gear (for example, Patagonia).

The second option is a nice, big sunhat. This is preferable for when you are not actively on the field. It's a fantastic option for coaches who want to get in the sun to yell at their teams but don't want to get sunburnt doing it. It's also a great option if you want to give your coach a subtle hint in the middle of a game not to put you back in.

 

Step 4: A backpack that is probably made for hiking

This way you have a place to store all your gear! Popular options include Patagonia over-the-shoulder bags and North Face backpacks. Bonus points if there is a visible disc somewhere on the bag.

 

Here's an example of how to pair these options together: 

SPECIAL PROPOSAL AT SPECIAL OLYMPICS

CAITLIN W ('19)

Special Olympics is an important part of the Charlotte Country Day School community; each year, we host about 1,500 students, 150 coaches, and 500 volunteers/CCDS students who run this event throughout the course of two days.

 My job at Special Olympics was to line the buses up perfectly so we could fit as many buses as possible in the student parking lot. Although I did not have a huge impact because we were not physically meeting the buddies and taking them to their activities, I still managed to get extremely engaged throughout the two days. Being able to see them when they first get off the buses was the most important part, as this is the time when the athletes meet their best friend for the day, their Country Day student mentor. It made an impact to see how excited the athletes were to meet their buddy and to go compete.

Not having a specific job with the buddies allowed me to meet other buddies, as well. One, a senior at East Meck, was  sweet and kind, always wanting to hold my hand as we were sitting down to eat lunch. She even proposed to me: not getting down on one knee, but instead asking me to dump my “boyfriend” so that I could marry her. I later found out, much to my dismay, that she had asked other people to marry her throughout the day. After meeting my friend’s buddy she had told me about how there were many more people that she had asked to marry her and of course they all said, “YES!!!”

Once she was done with her events and the day was over, I realized how much saying yes to her proposal may have impacted her life in a positive way. Being proposed to impacted me because the excitement that she had when I said yes I will remember for a long time.  

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