Nearly a week has gone by since SPW, and it is now that point in the semester when everyone is drowning in work and stress. It seems like the whole school is scrambling to salvage grades and find internships, and this past weekend feels like nothing more than a distant memory. I feel like the true greatness of SPW tends to get overlooked, though, as everyone tries to get back into some sort of routine and become a functioning member of society again.

SPW is Colgate at its absolute best. Each year, starting about halfway through the week leading up to it, there is this buzz around campus that is unlike any other time throughout the year. Seniors are hoping to end their final year at Colgate on a high note, and first-years are excited to experience their first SPW and finally be allowed into parties. For one four-day stretch, Colgate students stop stressing out about everything.

Saturday night of SPW is downright weird. When you are wandering around Hamilton at 5:00 in the morning, it is definitely an eerie vibe. You do not really expect to see anyone still out, and yet you might just find yourself running into friends from your freshman dorm or someone you had a class with that one time. That, I think, is the best part of SPW. Even if only for one weekend, everyone at Colgate comes together to have fun, catch up and stop worrying about life.

Sunday, as the sun is coming up, everyone who managed to stay awake through the night converges at Taylor Lake. The mass migration from everyone’s respective parties and houses is like nothing else that happens at Colgate. That is the beauty of SPW. It does not matter what you were doing overnight or where you are coming from. Everyone is just glad to have made it through the night, and to see that others have done the same is pretty cool.

Traditions like these are what make Colgate great. The exclusivity and separation of Colgate are gone and everyone, from first years to alumni, comes together to take part in the ritual of jumping into Taylor Lake.

Though I am still just a junior, when I look back on my time at Colgate, I know that SPWs will be some of the fondest memories. There really is nothing like rallying to stay up all night with the people you love and watch the campus come alive with the rising sun.

I am not really sure where I wanted to go with this. I wanted to look back on the memories and shenanigans of the weekend but, as Matt Gentile once said, this is probably not the best platform to publicize those stories. Still, it is pretty cool to know that I still have one more SPW and one last chance to jump into Taylor Lake.

Contact Ethan Marchetti at [email protected].