Starting the night of Sunday, the 25th, the week that turns kids frowns upside down begins. Endless sleepless nights, laughs, and memories. This week, some may say, is the headline of the year. As we are creeping up on this week — the pressure begins. Kids are beginning to buy their dresses and suits, make reservations, find who to go with to the dance, and buying their needs. The memories that this week holds are something that will have an everlasting impact. Those late-night laughs while TP-ing and the adrenaline rush at 3 a.m. is something only unique to Spring Lake. Spring lake High school is a school full of pride, a place where being a student is not just running through the motions but taking on a challenge and embracing it. This homecoming is just around the corner, so how will this year’s Lakers take on the challenge?

Starting Monday, we begin our week with “Adam Sandler day”. This day is dedicated to a man who has left an impact on Gen-Z. His iconic big t-shirt and long basketball shorts has started a trend throughout the United States. His open heart and caring personality has opened the eyes of many and has grasped the world’s attention for his iconic outfits. Many of us know him from Grown-Ups and some of us know him from Happy Gilmore, along with many other movies. Students on Monday will wear a big shirt, long shorts, and a backward hat to mirror the image of Adam Sandler. Moving forward to Tuesday, we become a little bit more patriotic. The Lakers come together to show USA pride in wearing our country’s colors. The RED, WHITE, and BLUE. Later in the day, chosen students will participate in the bellyflop competition, where judges will choose the class with the best flopper. Following on Wednesday, students are assigned a certain color: Freshmen wear blue, Sophomores wear pink, Juniors wear white, and Seniors wear black. This is known as color wars; students will decorate their hallways and have a competition for the best hallway. Leading onto Thursday, we have Theme Day. This year the student council has chosen music genres: Freshman with Pop Music, sophomores with Holiday music, Juniors with Disco, and Seniors with Country. These Themes correlate to the floats that are being made. Each grade is asked to make a float to represent their theme and grade to be in the parade Friday afternoon. Finally, we get to the biggest day! GAME DAY! Friday, students will show up in Laker gear as the school gets ready for the biggest game of the year — homecoming. This year’s homecoming will be a battle against the Fruitport Trojans and hopefully, bring home the paddle once again. Before the game, during school, students will attend a pep assembly where they will participate in games such as tug of war, half-court shots, and mattress racing. This assembly is one of the greatest moments. Here one can see the unity the school will bring to cheer on the football team. In tradition, the senior football players thank everyone for showing out they put on a little choreographed dance for the crowd to see. 

While this is happening all during the daylight, many things will also happen late at night, starting Sunday. As Sunday night approaches, juniors and seniors begin a week-long war. This is what is known as TP-ing. TP-ing is when Juniors TP seniors and seniors TP juniors. This consists of toilet paper shaving cream and saran wrap. Juniors and Seniors run out all night and come to school the next morning showing they are unstoppable during this week of fun-filled activities creating lifelong memories. Running off of 2-3 hours of sleep each night is a memory that is everlasting. 

Looking at homecoming from a glimpse this is just merely the overview. As we approach next week the boys are preparing to take on the Fruitport Trojans and bring home the paddle for the 5th year in a row. From this, we will cap the long adventurous week with the dance Saturday evening.  

Here’s to a rollercoaster of emotions this week! Some of us think this is the best week of the year and some it may not matter as much but to everyone, as Oprah Winfrey said, “Living in the moment means letting go of the past and not waiting for the future. It means living your life consciously, aware that each moment you breathe is a gift.” Take this moment of the school year as a gift because before you know it you’re a senior asking for just one last time. So, take it in, live in the present, and enjoy this week to the fullest because one day it all will be just a memory.