SAA Appeal
By KATHRYN FERNANDOPULLE ‘21
On Saturday night, any person walking through the Stu saw a flood of freshmen and sophomores in the Student Center battling for the last scoop of ice cream for a sundae. The Student Activities Association, more commonly known as SAA, hosts events like that every week. SAA is supposed to create activities that foster a greater sense of community within our school and bridge the gap between upperclassmen and underclassmen. However, every student probably has noticed that besides a few school dances, not many upperclassmen attend the weekend SAA activities. Whether it’s because they have already attended the same event or because they are simply not interested in eating ice cream in the Student Center, juniors and seniors seem uninterested in many of the activities. Furthermore, as students get older and get their driving licenses, they would much rather go out with their friends rather than stay on campus. I believe that SAA should focus on making more universally appealing activities in order to have more upperclassmen attend and thus bridge the grade divide.
I attended the majority of the SAA activities last year because I was an energetic freshman who wanted to make friends and meet new people. I remember that during my freshman year, the SAA activities were a big deal and everyone would go to them. However, it has become evident to me that as I get older, the activities have since become less appealing. When interviewing Ian Glick ‘21, a sophomore SAA representative, I asked him how appealing he thinks the activities are to upperclassmen. Ian said, “I think that many activities are especially appealing to underclassmen, whether it’s because upperclassmen have already seen similar activities before or have a greater ability—especially with cars—to go do things off-campus, but there are also a large portion of activities that are well attended by people across grades, and I think that these really help decrease divides between under and upperclassmen.”
When asked how SAA helps with student body cohesion, Ian Glick said, “It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to attend any given SAA sponsored event, but I think that the events really do help bring people across grades together. For example at the skating party on Friday, there were people from every grade having fun with one another, and I think that those kinds of gatherings—that unity—really makes Milton a better place.”
At Milton Academy, The Student Activities Association is a driving force in making the grade divide obsolete. However, in order to accomplish that, the upperclassmen have to attend more activities like the skating party. Making SAA activities more universally appealing would help create more comradery throughout grades.