We all love Head of School Holidays. A day off school each athletic season? Yes, please! Sign me up. Knowing how the email subject “Please come to Walker Auditorium immediately” unleashes the primal instincts of the entire student body, it’s understandable that we get upset when our holiday predictions don’t come true.

But it’s becoming increasingly clear that many of us feel entitled to this day off, and if you ask me, we need to fix that mentality. Holidays are more than just a break—they’re a community- building tradition. A tradition that we should appreciate more.

I remember my first holiday. I was at Doorways, listening to people guess whether it was going to be called that night. When the “Come to Walker immediately” email popped up on our phones, everyone started screaming. We rushed out of our dorms, running as a school to Walker Auditorium. Mr. Bradley officially announced the holiday, and we sang “Fair Hotchkiss” together, arms around one another. This shared excitement and joy helped us bond as a community—it’s what truly makes this tradition irreplaceable.

As students, we don’t express enough gratitude for holidays. Students who play “roulette” (not doing their schoolwork in anticipation of a holiday) become stressed when they are obligated to finish the work on which they procrastinated. They get annoyed when the holiday doesn’t get called on the day they want, and their frustration turns into groans and complaints.

It’s natural for people to expect things, but expectation can breed disappointment. We seem to have forgotten that a holiday isn’t something we’re entitled to. The whole point of these holidays is that they’re meant to be a surprise. They give people time to bond with others and slow down in this fast-paced environment, especially since they’ve (ostensibly) finished all their school work. The Head of School Holiday is a rare occasion when students can finally take a break from their rigorous academic and athletic commitments.

Holidays would be more enjoyable if we did not take them for granted. The joyful screaming, the rushing to Walker, the singing of “Fair Hotchkiss”—all these things bring us together in collective joy. And though it’s fun to predict when the holiday might be, we need to remember the true value of this tradition: community.