Because Sometimes You Just Need to Be a Kid
On a chilly Saturday in May a bouncy castle could be seen from the distance of the Main quad.This bouncy castle must serve some educational purpose, right? Maybe a new study? No, it is in fact just plain fun.
Nick Best, Eric Singerman, and Zach Upton-Davis organized an Uncommon Fund event called “Kindergarten On the Quad”. This was all about being a kid again. There was finger painting for the free spirited, a bouncy castle for the rambunctious, coloring books for the organized artist, and cookies for everyone because let’s be honest, as kids we all would have hit those cookies.
The Uncommon Fund process was actually fairly simple Nick explained. The group had to submit a budget along with a sixty second video and for round two another video was made to convince the student body for their votes. This was obviously a success.
The weather for the event was not ideal but the event went well. There were no serious injuries and everyone who released their need for childhood had a great time. The group had to face an interesting obstacle before the event. Because of the upcoming NATO summit, all events in May on the Quad were subject to an administrative hearing. Nine important people sat down with Nick, Eric, Zach, and their ORCSA adviser, Asad, and discussed potential security issues, working with the dean on call, and other corresponding details. As Nick said, “We thought it was funny because these people have way more important things to do than talk to us about our event…. Luckily, no part of the contingency plan was enacted, and we are glad that they sat down with us cause they were very helpful, but we just thought it was pretty funny.”
The idea stemmed from the trio’s incessant desire for a bouncy castle. Nick replied: “When Ben Roth (Alper House RH) told us no multiple times, we decided to approach someone who would give us the money to buy us a bouncy castle. After all of our parents said no, we saw the uncommon fund which was willing to give us the money.”
There will not be a repeat of Kindergarten on the Quad next yaer but the group definitely enjoyed the time spent organizing the event. The best part of the whole thing? Nick speaks the truth for the group when he answered, “The half an hour before the event started when we had hundreds of cookies, juice, crayons, and a bouncy castle to ourselves. That was great until we had to share.”