Today was a great day – not only because classes were cancelled, but also because it was finally the day of the SEA OLYMPICS! The Sea Olympics is something that every Semester at Sea voyage does. Each student can participate in a variety of events for their “Sea” (or residence area) throughout the day. My Sea is the Mediterranean, but there is also the Red Sea, the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Yellow Sea, etc. The faculty, staff and life-long learners have their own group which they call the “Diploma-Sea.” : ) All of the Seas compete for the coveted gold, silver, and bronze medals (made from paper plates, of course, in true student affairs fashion). The festivities began at 11:00AM in the Union for the opening ceremonies. At the ceremony, the children on the ship brought in the Olympic “torch” that they had made out of paper then each Sea elected a few representatives to carry in their banner. Each Sea then had 30 seconds to perform their Sea cheer – there were quite a few creative ones! After Captain Jeremy Kingston gave some brief remarks about safety and good sports(man-woman)ship, he declared the official opening of the games allowing the games to officially begin!
The day was a little crazy – everybody wore their Sea colors all day, along with face/body paint, headbands, hair dye, and lots of other creative costumes. There were a variety of events that happened throughout the day including mashed potato sculpting, dodgeball, crab soccer, tug of war, relay races, bagel on a string, pie eating, shave a balloon, a Global Studies trivia contest, and probably the most popular event of the day – synchronized swimming! There was a HUGE crowd standing around the tiny pool on the 7th deck during the event. Some of the teams were actually really good. The Mediterranean Sea team was all male – they did a routine to “Single Ladies” with glittery orange outfits. My Living-Learning Coordinator, Kevin, also participated and I believe he was in charge of most of the chorography. Hilarious!
I participated in the flip-cup competition, but my team (of 11 people) got crushed in the first round! Too bad! We had some rookies on our team who must have gotten lucky in the qualifying round, which I think was our ultimate downfall. Haha It was still fun and it was humorous because the judge for that event was our voyage’s academic dean – Dean LaVohn. You just don’t get that kind of interaction with your dean on a land campus!
Later that afternoon, there was a Barbeque Dinner on the 6th and 7th decks before the Lip Sync Contest began at 7 PM. The routines were really creative…it’s amazing what students will come up with when you are stranded on a ship with limited resources and time. They did an amazing job! After the contest, the results were tabulated and…the MEDITERRANEAN SEA walked away with the BRONZE MEDAL!!! YAY! The gold medalists (the Caribbean Sea) won the prize of being the first Sea to get off the ship when we arrive in Norfolk, VA. The day was a lot of fun, though, and it was nice to see all of the students, faculty, and staff pulling together in friendly competition.
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