The purpose of a pep rally is to get a crowd fired up for a sporting event. The school goes down to the gymnasium and it is so loud no one can hear themselves think. Students scream in the bleachers and stamp their feet. The band plays the fight song over top of them and the drums hammer. The whole room seems to vibrate with energy. The floor and bleachers shake because of the noise.

This year, not so much.

The school could not have a real pep rally this year due to COVID-19 coronavirus and its demand for social distancing. The alternative was to have a pep rally virtually.

Everyone stayed in their classroom and watched a video of the pep rally. The energy was dead. Across the classroom students held blank faces. The students might as well just have been listening to the teacher talking, it was that same level of energy. One kid in my class actually slept through the entire thing.

It had a few interesting moments, but it is not justified as a pep rally. The groups that performed did a good job and it is clear that they put a lot of hard work into it; however, it is not a real pep rally unless it gives the audience pep. While watching I did not feel any pep or energy.

Furthermore, during the football and volleyball team announcements, cheering and clapping was edited in. This seemed strange and awkward. It was way too obvious that it was fake because it sounded exactly the same each time.

Then, having the players introduce themselves made things even more awkward. I couldn’t help but realize that they were not talking to anyone when it was recorded, just speaking to empty bleachers.

There are things that a virtual pep rally simply can’t accomplish. Many students don’t go to watch performances. They go for the crowd participation. It is fun to yell, participate in the games, try to get free t-shirts and make as much noise as possible. No one is going to fall asleep. But doing it virtually is so boring because it is impossible to do these things when trapped in a classroom. For some students the best part of the pep rally is gone.

I do appreciate everyone trying to keep things as normal as possible and I appreciate the efforts that went into creating the pep rally. However the basic purpose of a pep rally was defeated. I don’t think we should make anymore. The time and effort that was put into the pep rally was a waste.