Let’s start right after chapel. Picture almost every Groton student clustered in front of the Schoolhouse. There had already been talk of Surprise Holiday, so these rumors strengthened during the crowded gathering. “This is the perfect time to announce Soliday.” “It has to be today.” “My friend heard from a reliable source that it is.” Well, it was safe to say that they were all correct.
The senior prefects, adorned in green, came barreling toward the crowd on a golf cart. Music, green confetti, and screaming, of course, accompanied their arrival. Then the stagnant crowd of students rushed toward the prefects in a procession-like manner, everyone dropping their items and responsibilities for the day in their charge.
The Sackett Forum had found itself bustling about ten minutes later; talk of plans, who would go where, and the bus people would take echoed throughout the open space. To make the Soliday announcement even sweeter, there had been at least 20 donut boxes waiting in the forum for the taking. Excitement was in the air, and it only intensified with the announcement that the bus Google Form had come out.
My friends and I went on the 9:30 a.m. bus to Boston with plans to go to Newbury Comics, Capital Burger, Brattle Book Shop, and rent blue bikes. We shared a few laughs in Newbury Comics, then found our way to Capital Burger on the city bikes. We may or may not have lost our way a few times. Despite the difficult journey to the food, the company and conversations at the restaurant made the trek worth it. We even had some crazy hypotheticals floating around the table like, “How far would you go to save milk if its existence were threatened?” I think it’s safe to say that I had a very in-depth answer.
What was even better than the burgers and conversation was all of Brattle, one of America’s oldest antiquarian book shops. It was an amazing experience and I recommend stopping by if you’re ever in Boston. We found books ranging from $1 to $10,000 throughout the store’s three floors and got some Insta-worthy pictures. (At least I did)
And that was the end of Soliday! Students anticipate the Groton tradition from the moment they step on campus each term. The surprise day off turns students into skilled detectives, all trying to figure out when it is. And some of these detectives are so confident in their Soliday hunches that they risk their sanity to play the infamous “roulette” and not complete the next day’s homework.
Although always short and sweet, Surprise Holiday never fails to cultivate Groton’s tight-knit community. It successfully puts a smile on everybody’s face while sparking debate over guesses of its unknown arrival, bringing everybody together. It is truly a great tradition, and it is particularly my favorite when it postpones my US History test.