I love the men’s soccer talent show. Now, I’m clearly biased because I’m a member of the team, but the point still stands. For those who haven’t attended, every year my teammates and I set up a stage in the lobby of Alice Paul and put on around ten acts. There’s lots of singing and dancing, but also the occasional pillow fight, stand-up comedy set, juggling routine, or something else random. This year, we had an improv act that bombed pretty hard. Come to think of it, I bombed so hard my freshman year that two of my teammates and I got eggs cracked on our heads.
The talent show is much like many of the other traditions developed over Swarthmore’s 162-year history (albeit much more recently developed than most). These traditions — the Crum Regatta, Ninjagrams, the Pterodactyl Hunt, midnight breakfast, the Bathtub Debate, the list continues — are what I’ll remember from my time at Swarthmore. The events where we give our time to enjoy life and have fun, watch boats sink in a creek, scream at the top of our lungs in unison, and watch a debate about alien invasions or breaking out of the Matrix. The events where people come together to enjoy silliness and laughter, and revel in the energy of fellow Swatties. The events where the difficult parts of being a student, professor, or staff member are put on pause.
The talent show isn’t as widely loved (or attended) as any of the other events I mentioned, but in my mind, it runs in the same vein of fun. Once a year, my teammates and I are a bunch of friends embarrassing ourselves so anyone willing to stop by can enjoy, share in laughter, and cringe with fellow Swatties. Plus, if you’re 21 and over, you get a free drink. Moments to take a step back from the academically rigorous life at Swarthmore are something that I think everyone can get behind.
From my limited field of view, the talent show seems to have a positive effect on campus. People who attend remember both performances that were well rehearsed and those that sucked. They remember that one time a PubSafe officer came and told us too many people were there, so we serenaded him with “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” as a peace offering. They remember our makeshift band performing Coldplay’s “Sparks.” The event has provided a space for people to meet each other, have a laugh, and create a memory.
The same can be said for all of the events that go on every week. Kitao art shows, Motherpuckers hockey outings, Olde Club concerts, you name it. Every club, team, or group, formal or informal, run by students, staff, or faculty, has the opportunity to provide a little fun, a little je ne sais quoi, a little out-of-the-ordinary to the pressure and stress that accompany life here. The talent show is just another one of these events, and it may not be for you, just like line dancing isn’t for me (I can never get the steps right). But I have an attachment to the tradition, and if you can’t make it to next year’s talent show, be sure to find the places where you can step back and enjoy, because they make this place what it is.
