Walking through the halls during sophomore year was a completely different experience compared to walking through the halls in senior year and the difference isn’t only because of class. In my sophomore year, I would see almost everyone sharing in the spirit week fun, whether dressing as twins for “twin” day or lugging around quirky objects for “anything but a backpack” day. Everyone was creative and dynamic with their participation. However, this enthusiasm has seen a steady decline over the past few years. As part of the yearbook staff, it was nearly impossible to track down people who were actually wearing something for Spirit Week this year at the week’s start. Not many people wore mismatched clothing, and even fewer were dressed up as soccer moms/golf dads. More people were dressed pink on Wednesday, wore their class colors on Thursday, and reped the blue and white on Friday, frankly out of convenience. 

Previously, even if school spirit was a bit of an inconvenience, people would still participate. This can be seen in how many people participated in last year’s “bring anything but a backpack” to school day, despite all the restrictions that were placed. Now, however, people will likely only participate in school spirit if it is convenient for them. Who has the time and/or energy to specifically plan out a soccer mom or golf dad outfit? Besides, since it requires so much work, who else is even going to show up to school looking like this? I don’t want to do it alone… are often thoughts many of us have for school spirit. On the contrary, spirit days like “wear pink on Wednesdays”, class colors, or blue and white days are easier because you only have to choose an outfit that’s already likely at the top of your closet, something you might even wear on a normal basis. 

Even if we were to step outside of spirit week and look at the homecoming game or dance, the same trend of convenience can be seen. Upon inquiring about some friends, I discovered that most attended the game merely because a club they were in was participating in the homecoming parade and needed members to walk with them. If not for that reason, they were going because it was their senior year and last opportunity to be a part of a high school homecoming. A lot of people opted to not go to the game because they had other things to do, be it work, internships, studying, etc. It simply was not convenient for them to attend the game. 

This downward shift in school spirit seems to be most visible in high schools, but it looks like colleges have mixed trends. For some universities, school spirit has been trending upwards, and you often see university merchandise (i.e. university mom, said university dad, etc) selling like crazy. When attending college tours, many students take the time to browse the campus store in search of university merchandise. However, for other universities, school spirit has been dwindling. This can be seen in quite a few Ivy Leagues where the brand name of an Ivy League is lessening in social importance, possibly because many people are not going to college at all, opting for other careers like influencing through social media. 

With everything that is happening with school spirit, I am curious to know the impacts this will have on the younger generations. Will they become apathetic to school involvement, selecting to only partake in events that provide them some tangible benefits (i.e. resume padding)? Or will school spirit receive a miraculous spike in popularity and have a rebound? Is school spirit important in the long run, or is it just fun to partake in? Does it truly instill a sense of community within school?