Lehigh-Laf Week

This week marks one of the longest lived traditions at Lehigh. Lehigh-Laf Week. For 145 years Lehigh and Lafayette, two of the biggest rivals, have met to test who has the stronger football team. Festivities include bed races, the turkey trot, and the bonfire. All of these traditions make Lehigh unique and bring the student body together. While the activities are fun to engage in, is everyone's excitement about the football game on Saturday or is their excitement engendered by the desire and ability to go crazy?

At first glance, it may appear that Lehigh students are very spirited towards their school and the rivalry. But once we delve deeper into the concept of their excitement, perhaps, not being brought about for the sole purpose of support and spirit, we see a different perspective. During this week, people party more often and feel that they have the justification to celebrate more because of the long-lived tradition. In reality, they are just using the tradition as an excuse. People could party every night of every week if they really wanted to. But do they? No, because they feel an obligation towards their studies or some other responsibility. This week brings the students a sense of freedom and relief from the burden of schoolwork. I would say that a majority of students have this thought process: of rejoicing because it is almost expected of them. So do we do things merely because they are expected of us? No doubt we do. Then there is the question of traditions and spirit. Are people actually excited for the event or more excited for the festivities leading up to the event? As I discussed with one of my friends, we agree that most people express excitement over the festivities rather than the actual event. So there is a false facade put on that we render enthusiasm for something for which we do not.

In anthropology class, we were discussing holidays. When we were younger, we knew Thanksgiving and Christmas as holidays of eating big meals with our families and giving thanks or receiving gifts. But do we truly understand the meaning and origins of such holidays? These two ideas - Lehigh-Laf Week and holidays - both involve and present the ideas of traditions and their true motives.

Along the same lines are the quirky things that a team or group of people adopts. My club basketball team, for example, has a cheer where one girl says "How high?" and the rest of the team says "Lehigh!" While a few members may know the origins and significance of this cheer, the majority of the team members have no idea where it came from. Nonetheless, we continue to cherish it as something that bonds us together. In life, we often do not know the meaning of our actions, but rather do them because it is what is expected of us or what our group is doing. In my opinion, this is very myopic of us. We should act because we have motives that incline us to do so. It's like the saying, think before you speak. The thought behind this is to find logic in your thoughts before sharing them with the world. Similarly, think before you act. You should know why you are doing something and not just do it for the heck of it.