On Friday, November 14th, the Trischool Function was held at the International School of Sacred Heart (ISSH). 29 students from St. Mary’s International School attended the event, which is only slightly over half of the 45 spaces open. Furthermore, over half of the St. Mary’s attendees were seniors, which was a huge source of disappointment for the Student Council (StuCo), as it was feared that a lack of interest in the Function would negatively affect the attendance of future StuCo events. However, the event is still generally considered a success, with most attendees having a fun time socializing and dancing.
What Was In The Event
One of the highlights of the event was the introduction of glowstick gambling. To encourage interschool interactions, guests were given a set amount of glowsticks when they entered the AB room in ISSH, where the event was held, and were instructed to play rock, paper, scissors with someone from another school. Losers lost a glowstick, while winners gained one. A ￥10,000 prize was offered for the person with the most glowsticks collected, which was a great motivation for many to participate in the event. There was also a dance-off, with many people from either Seisen or Sacred Heart, and Leo (’28) from St. Mary’s participating, in a bid to win public praise. The latter was placed in second place, to the fleeting disappointment of his peers. “I think he [Leo] should have won,” commented Zen (’28), an attendee, in an interview, “He was doing better moves than the other people.” Regardless of the loss, both activities injected much-needed life and energy into the Function and brought students from all three schools closer together.
What People Thought Of It And Reflections
While attendance from St. Mary’s was fairly unbalanced, with over half of the attendees being seniors, and below expectations, as with only 29 St. Mary’s students registering to attend, including StuCo officers. Reasons given for not signing up by non-attendees included a lack of interest, but also because Tri-School Combined Band Rehearsals were held on the same day as the Function, which prevented many from being able to make it on time. Still, to those who were at the Function, it was a generally positive experience. “I think it was pretty good,” Zen (’28) answered in the interview mentioned before, “I think, at the beginning, it was kind of like not much going on, but as it went on, it got better and better. At the end, it was very fun.”
Overall, the Trischool Function was successful, albeit with room for improvement. Many specialties of the event, such as glowstick gambling, weren’t widely known by the student populace when the Function was being advertised. With this in mind, for future StuCo-held events, clearer communication to the student body to increase interest and attendance will be of greater focus.
