For whom the bell tolls…

It seemed that Johnnies could care less about St. Valentine’s Day. Well, at least juniors and seniors could care less about the holiday of love and friendship. Maybe the freshmen had their own secret celebration, but the old seasoned Johnnies (maybe the real Johnnies) had other business in mind. Senior Essays, the highlight and summit of the St. John’s education, were due on February 14th. To speak precisely, they have until midnight of the 15th, but most of them try to get them in by 9:00 pm. The president offers the seniors a nice reception, so most of them dress for the occasion and have a good time. The night when senior essays are due is one of the noisiest nights of the year. To begin with, seniors get to ring the bell in the tower of Weigle Hall. Traditionally, seniors would get a ring per page, so a 37-page paper would equal 37 rings. Those were the good old times; back then, our hill was not as populated with retirees, monks and artists. Rumor, Virgil’s beast of many eyes and tongues, has informed some of us that many neighbors complained about the unending tolling of the bells (in actuality from 9-12am), thus, as a result, they only get to ring the bell five times.
However, there is more mayhem to come. As seniors triumphantly leave Weigle with an air of pride for their great accomplishment, the juniors are giving the ultimate touches to a skit that portrays most of the seniors in good-humor. Yes, we make fun of them! But things are not as unfair, for seniors on the other hand, who get to make fun of the tutors in what is known as senior skit. Junior skit lasted for about an hour and half last Saturday night (well, Sunday morning), so the whole thing probably ended about 2:00 am. With the seniors re-reediting their papers, and the Juniors rehearsing most of the day, maybe the January freshmen were the only Johnnies that cared to have a Valentine’s.