Pajama day, anything-but-a-backpack day, color day…it’s always a fun and festive week during school spirit week! Look around you, though. How many people do you actually see wearing silly costumes and lively attire in the name of school spirit? Unfortunately, the answer is not many. Why is that? Is it because of the embarrassment from sticking out of the crowd? Is it because it’s deemed “weird” to want to enthusiastically participate in something? Or are high school students just too tired to bother? Whatever the reason is, everyone needs to scrap it! Let’s get into why students should participate in spirit week.

It shows you have confidence, and that’s attractive!

Like I said before, many people don’t participate in spirit week because they’re embarrassed to look drastically or at least noticeably different from everyone else. When you don’t blend in with the crowd, you magnetize the eyes of everyone around you, which then leads to lots of people talking about you. That much attention would freak anyone out; I can definitely understand that. I, myself, admit to taking some of my spirit week outfits down a notch to avoid all the eyes I know I’m going to attract once I arrive at school, but that’s something I want to stop caring about. If you’re up for it, you should try to do the same. There will always be judgmental people out there who laugh at you for trying so hard for spirit week, but that’s just because they wish they had the confidence you had to dress up in front of a lot of people knowing you’d be heavily perceived. So, put that outfit on! Go all out! You’ll look back on it one day and realize that the glances you got were really no big deal after all. 

It gives you character on your college applications

Partaking in spirit week won’t be your magical secret ingredient to landing a spot in your dream college, but it does contribute to your character and involvement in school. Having really advanced academics and extracurriculars are definitely the most important things to have, but just for some personality, you could include your participation in spirit week to show that you represented your school. How does that represent your school exactly? Well, leading events like clubs, or attending events like fundraisers and competition whilst following a certain theme can give your school more rep, and your enthusiasm could encourage more interaction at your events. Plus, it could potentially push others to participate as well, giving you a sort of leadership title. That may be a stretch but hey, it definitely feels good knowing that people are doing something because they saw you do it too. Any type of school involvement can benefit you, so why not get the easy recognition by simply dressing up according to some themes for a week? 

You can land a spot in the yearbook!

I understand not everyone wants to be in the yearbook, but if you’re someone who does, then dressing up for spirit week is the perfect opportunity to get your picture in there! As you may have noticed, there are students in yearbook class who walk around with a high-end camera scouting for kids who really captured the school spirit. You and a friend dressed almost perfectly identical for twin day? Picture worthy. You came to school in full costume for character day? Picture worthy. You brought in an entire bathroom sink for anything-but-a-backpack day? They’re crazy if they don’t get your picture. Sticking out and being creative will definitely catch the eye of someone who has access to the yearbook design and who knows? Maybe you’ll find yourself on your class page and you can go home and show all your friends and family how cool you are. Looking back on your old yearbooks, knowing you have a spot to yourself in them, will also make some warm memories for when you share them with the people in your life when you’re older.  

You’d inspire others to get out of their comfort zone

You could be a role model! I don’t know about you, but I’m always very impressed when I see someone go all out for spirit week, walking around like it’s nobody’s business. I find it very admirable that someone is secure enough to do that. You could be secretly helping someone get out of their comfort zone and boost their confidence just by dressing up for yourself. This applies to even outside of spirit week. You could be the push someone needs to muster up the courage to wear what they want, and what’s better than the feeling you get from inspiring others? There are so many people who, like I said before, are too afraid or embarrassed to wear something cool and ‘loud’ for spirit week, but just one person going for it is enough to convince a handful of others to do the same, so be that person! 

It’s just fun

Sometimes, not everything has to have a reason for you to do it, it’s just fun. Sure, you can create an image for yourself, gain brownie points for your college application, or land a spot in the yearbook all by participating in spirit week. Those are all valid reasons! Otherwise, why would I advise them to you? However, at the end of the day, spirit week is just fun. It’s just a silly week full of themes where you can wear fun outfits and take pictures with your friends, and compare and maybe even collaborate on a group outfit together with your friends. It’s just something to look forward to amongst all the schoolwork and school stress students face every day, and something to motivate you to get dressed in the morning. Spirit Week is just fun, and that itself should be reason enough to participate. 

So, how many people actually wear silly costumes and lively attire in the name of school spirit? Hopefully one more now than before with you on board, right? 🙂