Entertaining, spiritually enriching, and above all, brotherhood building are all adjectives to describe the senior programming day that occurred last Friday. The day was the second programming day—the first one being the sophomore programming two weeks ago—and was largely a successful event, garnering wide support among the senior class.

Planning for the event began in early January, with the planning committee meeting once every week. During the month of February, the planning committee doubled down upon its efforts, meeting twice a week. While the planning committee in the beginning was made up entirely of faculty, it quickly transitioned to being led by seniors.

The day began with Mass, celebrated by principal Ian Gibbons, S.J. and organized by the Senior Pastoral Team. The Mass emphasized the day’s theme: being open to one another and celebrating the gifts, talents, and the brotherhood of the class of 2021.

While Mass was the only explicitly religious part of the day, for biology/physics teacher and main organizer of the day Bradley Mueller, the familial love of agape was implicit throughout the day.

“I think prayer can be seen in a number of different ways, and I think the day as a whole was a prayer for the senior class,” said Mueller. “I think the day as a whole was an amen to that class, an amen to togetherness and brotherhood.”

The day then transitioned to the fun and entertaining activities. Students were fed breakfast and a talent show was held, featuring the creativity and skills of the senior class. Talent acts ranged from more serious acts, such as singing and playing an instrument, to more goofy talents like catching edible projectiles in one’s month and reciting the periodic table.

Of all the talents, though, senior Nick Storer’s talent act most stunned the audience. Heating a bowl of minute-ready rice, Storer proved to the entire senior class that, despite the recipe saying to microwave the rice for a full minute, one can instead heat it for just 58 seconds.

“Talents are great, but there are some talents that surpass basic human capabilities; I like to call them God-defying,” said senior Sam Tarter. “What Nick did up there, literally defying the laws of physics and thermodynamics, and preparing delicious food against all oddds was absolutely breathtaking. It brought a tear to my eye and made me cheer with so much joy when he announced to the class that it was done. The hype was real.”

In addition to the talent show, the morning also featured a race between football player Michael Pattriti, and cross country runner Ryan Kramer, as well as a pie eating contest. These two events really energized the audience and demonstrated one of the main focuses of the day: to have fun as a class.

“We were in theology class when I brought up the pie eating contest,” said Jeffrey Wells. “I jokingly said, ‘Hey Andrew, you should eat a pie.’ And then he started talking to Blake Collins about it and suddenly it became a thing on the schedule for the day.”

Next, the seniors divided into their homeroom groups and went into the classrooms that they were in freshman year for homeroom; homerooms competed against each other in a game of trivia. The trivia game was made up of questions about members of their class, and it tested each senior on how well they knew each of their ‘U. High brothers.’

“I thought this was a fun way to learn more about my classmates,” said senior Andrei Chura. “There were a lot of questions about my classmates that I did not know and surprised me.”

After lunch, the seniors were given free time to simply be present with each other. Allowed to be in the Field House, Si Commons, pool hall, or outside, the seniors could play more physical activities, like basketball and spikeball, or calmer activities, like poker, pool, or playing against one another in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (via Nintendo Switches provided by seniors Sam Tarter and twins Sam and Charlie Byrne).

For the seniors, it was good to have unscheduled time to simply be with each other.

“I think it was a good moment just to have time that was almost recess,” said Wells. “It was nice to have a moment where there was free time and you could just hang out with the people. I think it made the day a bit more enjoyable and made the day a bit less scheduled.”

The day ended with a speech given by senior Sam Tarter expressing his gratitude for all the support that his classmates offered him when his father passed away last November. The speech was a testament to the spirit of brotherhood and unity of the class of 2021, and when it ended, was greeted with a standing ovation.

“I lost my dad late last year,” said Tarter. “And while I was not at SLUH that often in that last semester, I still felt like SLUH was with me due to the love and support of those in my class. This speech in many ways was just a big thank you for the entire class for being with me when I lost my dad. Additionally, it was also a way to show everyone in my class how important and special their brotherhood is to me, and there was this underlying message to hold onto this love that we’ve built as a community and to finish our senior year the best way we could.”

While many were initially hesitant about what to expect at the beginning of the day, by the end of it the general consensus was overwhelming support.

“You know something is a success when you hear students say that they do not want to leave,” said Mueller. “Students had fun together. They prayed and bonded together. I think we really achieved what we had envisioned this day to be.”

The next programming day will be for the junior class in May on their Junior Ring day.