Imagine the World as One

Alumni Ball—December 10, 2010

The Alumni Ball has finally arrived. We have been planning this for months and it is finally here. This is the time in which we all become Semester at Sea Alumni. It sounds so weird to say that, especially since it has been a long time coming.

The day started off with the dreaded Global Studies final exam. We had all been studying for our other finals for about three days, so this one was just the final straw and we could not wait for it to be over. We got to the test and were done in about 30 minutes—not too bad. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be, so that was a relief. The end of the test was what started the excitement, because once the last question was answered and the test was turned in, we were done with school work for the semester!!

As part of the committee, we were responsible for coming up with/making the decorations for the event later this evening. So we got together and finished making the million hands that we had and the posters with different quotes on them to hang around the main dining room.

Our theme for the ball was “Imagine the World as One” so we came up with the idea to have hands all around the room decorated in different ways (flags from the countries we have visited, the ten different seas that make up the voyage, ones that the kids decorated, even ones that spelled out “Imagine One World”). So we had them hung up all around (there were about 200 of them) and then we have two different posters (one with Imagine the World as One—Fall 2010 Voyage with the world in the background, and then one with a Desmond Tutu quote “Continue to be idealistic. Dream, dream, dream the craziest dreams” which he said in the global studies lecture on Oct 2, 2010 on this voyage). The decorations came out awesome!

Before the first seating was going to arrive, we needed to set up the dining room. The crew took care of setting each place setting, but we needed to arrange the programs and the SAS lapel pins that we all receive. Once that was complete, we could all disperse and finally get ready.

In order to arrange the ball so that everyone could sit in the main dining room, we needed to have two separate seating’s, since not everyone can dine in the main dining room at the same time since there is not enough room. So, the first seating was at 5:30pm with Desmond Tutu and Dean Sue and the next at 8:00pm with Dean David and the Captain. I was at the second seating. There was the entertainment portion of the ball that would take place at the opposite time to which you were dining (if you were at the first seating, you went to the entertainment in the Union after dinner, and if you were at the second seating, you went to entertainment before dinner). The entertainment (at least at the session I attended) was multiple students performing “If You’re Out There” by John Legend and two of my friends Marissa and Krissy singing “ You Got a Friend in Me” by Carole King. There were also a few poetry readings and then Photo Mike presented the slideshow that we have been waiting for so long to see. This was a combined video/photo slideshow from the entire voyage from embarkation to the end, which is rapidly approaching. The slideshow was amazing and almost made me cry. It is going to be put in the public folder on the computers so I will be able to put it on my flash drive so that everyone at home can see it.

Dinner was amazing! It was a five-course meal consisting of appetizers (bruschetta), broccoli and cheddar soup, Caesar salad, Filet Mignon (yummmm!!!) and then a dessert buffet to follow upstairs on the sixth deck. There were other menu options, but this was the dinner I had and it was amazing!!

At dinner, Amy was the one who introduced Dean David, and she was even the host of the entertainment portion. She did an awesome job and I was so proud of her. She was able to be the one to announce that we are all Alumni now!!

After the dinner and entertainment portions were complete and dessert was served, there was a dance up on the 7^th deck by the pool bar. It was honestly hilarious because it felt like we were back in 6^th grade at the dances we used to have. Just picture this: DJ, strobe lights, awkward grinding, and random hookups happening. It was hilarious to watch and take pictures of.

The Alumni Ball was so much fun and it was such a good way to end the voyage. We have two more days filled with reflections and convocations and some more packing! (my room looks like a bomb went off. We have been packing for days and now our suitcases can’t fit under the beds anymore, so they are placed all over the room and you need a map key to navigate your way around it. It’s bad!!) Two more days then disembarkation and then three days in San Diego before flying back to Boston!! I miss Boston so much and hope there is snow on the ground so I can have a white Christmas!!