Illustration by Gemma Fa-Kaji
I never dressed up for rally day because I never knew why we celebrated the event. I thought rally day was celebrated to show love for our school. This year I learned that rally day is meant to show pride for the school in anticipation of the football game. This year I’m looking forward to dressing in red and gold, since I now know]what it means. Unfortunately, this year the football game is not being played at Berkeley High (BHS).
Some students who associate rally day with the football game might think it is not right that this year the football game is not happening at BHS. If rally day is truly about celebrating sports, then there is no point in having rally day if there isn’t even a sports game happening.
The traditional purpose of rally day has shifted away from its former meaning. In my opinion, it is not a good change that’s coming to BHS in 2017. The ways in which schools preserve that tradition of rally day are substantial, because if the players of the football team see our support than they will play more passionately. I also think rally day is a good way to pay back all of our football players’s hard work.
On the other hand, some students don’t really associate the purpose of rally day with the football game. Personally, I always thought we celebrated rally day at BHS not out of pride for our football team but as another form of pride for our school. After all, the spirit week flyer only says, “Red and Gold Day,” with no mention of football whatsoever. I think there should be a description of why we celebrate “Red and Gold Day” on the flyer. I’m not one hundred percent sure, but because I’m from a different country I never saw a school celebrate rally day until I came to BHS. There is also the possibility of people celebrating rally day for other purposes even if they know about football rally day.
In my opinion, BHS should support rally day, even if there are no sports games happening on campus. The traditional purpose of rally day shifted to something different, but traditions can change, and if we cancel rally day aren’t we throwing out a tradition that has become a part of our school’s identity?