The Key to Success at Junior Assembly

Throughout one’s middle school experience at Cistercian, social opportunities outside of the school are somewhat limited. There is, of course, one exception known as Junior Assembly. Junior Assembly is a chance for 8th graders from Cistercian, Hockaday, Greenhill, ESD and St. Mark’s to socialize. Most Cistercian students expected a calm, social setting where they could meet people (GIRLS!) from other schools and get to know them. Their expectations were not met. “It was too loud”, writes Jakob Quarles in our class group chat. Walker Homan replies, “It was so loud. Also, the St. Mark’s people were throwing punch and it got on my shoelaces.” Typical.

A few classmates, however, had the right idea about JA which that it is designed to give you an idea of what high school mixers will be like. The key to a good experience at JA is to try to enjoy the loud music, punch throwing, and constant moshing of people. Although it may be important to learn about other people in your grade, you should also just try to have fun. By doing so, you show everyone around you that you are capable of having a good time and
hopefully, you’ll be invited to other events where you will have your chance to carry out real conversations with them.

Our first JA was a good learning experience for most of the people in our form, but a large portion of the class was disappointed when they didn’t get a chance to strike up any actual conversations. My advice to my classmates and to anyone else who has not yet experienced Junior Assembly is to simply expect a loud and wild environment and try to
embrace the fun night it has to offer. I believe that by doing this our next JA will surely be a night to remember.