By Jason Lin
EVHS Cougars celebrating the 2022 Roar N'Loud
Credit: EVHS Yearbook
The courtyard bustles as students rush in for the long-awaited event. Beats fill the air with a serenade of pop and jazz. Students look around at various activities, from volleyballs to tattoos, waiting for them. An aura of excitement fills the air. Then the loudspeakers blare, "Welcome to the 2022 Roar N'Loud".
EVHS's friendly neighborhood fortuneteller.
Credit: EVHS Yearbook
Roar N'Loud, has long been a tradition of EVHS. Since 2018, leadership would set up Roar N'Loud as a compliment to an end-of-the-year dance party. After a brief hiatus due to Covid, Roar N'Loud made its grand return in 2022. This year Roar N'Loud incorporated the use of new, local vendors to spice up the atmosphere and truly end the school year with a bang. However, communicating and scheduling with these new vendors wasn't so simple.
"There was definitely communication (issues). For example, our taco vendor. They only spoke Spanish, and we had an issue with not knowing how to speak Spanish," said Lauren Mendoza, EVHS's ASB Public Relations officer. "So we had to have one of our own leadership students be responsible for contacting them, and we didn't want to put that burden on them, but that was the only way."
Yet the locality of the vendors paid off. Some of the vendors, such as the fortune teller and tattoo artist, were Mrs. Y and other EVHS staff neighbors. They were kind enough to offer their services to EVHS's Roar N'Loud and celebrate the student community. This emphasis on connecting communities resonated throughout Roar N'Loud, especially its activities: DJ, Taco Truck, photo booth, glitter tattoos, sports games, ice cream, friendship bracelet making table, and tarot fortune teller.
"What I enjoyed personally as an ASB officer and as a leadership student is seeing first- and second-year students attend these events. Just seeing how they have grown from their online distance learning to become more acclimated to the high school environment. And that really is what I enjoy seeing most this year," said Lauren.
EVHS's Jazz Big Band busting a tune for Roar N' Loud
Credit EVHS Yearbook
As within EVHS culture, the sports at Roar N'Loud brought the school together. In particular, "spike ball," a parody of volleyball developed by ASB leadership for the event, drew crowds from around campus.
"We had a bunch of people waiting in line just to play spike ball and what I love most about spike ball was that there were a lot of groups of people playing the game, like people who I didn't usually see hanging out in groups." said Lauren, "So it is really a communal activity and I just love how much it brought people together."
EVHS Cougars have a friendly game of spike ball with their colleagues.
Credit: EVHS Yearbook.
When responding to the question, "what did you think was the most popular event at the Roar N'Loud?" Lily Wen, a Junior attending the event, responded that the tattoo and fortune tellers were the most popular.
"I still had fun because my friends went and I was able to go with them. Yeah, it was a good experience overall…It would probably be the tattoo people and the fortune teller…" said Lily.
Cougars showing off their custom tattoos.
Credit: EVHS Yearbook
When further asked how she believes the event can be improved. Lily responded that more activities would be great. Especially since many of them filled up so quickly with students this year. More activities would draw in more students and enable more students to have fun and let loose.
"There was food. I liked the photo booth, but I know that would put a lot of pressure on the yearbook [committee] to get more people to work there at the station. Maybe more games, carnival games in general." said Lily.
EVHS Cougars posing in front of the photo booth at the 2022 Roar N'Loud
Credit: EVHS Yearbook
EVHS ASB leadership also held a similar opinion to Lily's and has plans to strive for greater student participation. For future Roar N'Louds, they recommended the advancement of a student input form.
"I also think I would like to see better, more activities which pertain to different groups of people. Like the tattoo idea, it was fun, but it was a little niche." said Lauren, "Maybe we can do a better survey because I don't think we got a lot of student input in preparing for Roar N'Loud because it was such a last-minute thing. We just kind of took what we had. So I'd like to see if we can get more student input on what they would like to have in an end-of-the-year event."
Seniors hanging out at their last Roar N’ Loud.
Credit: EVHS Yearbook
Yet no matter how it has changed or how it will change, Roar N'Louds goal stays fundamentally the same. As ASB has emphasized throughout the year, high school is a one-of-a-lifetime experience. With senior graduation on the horizon, their 4 years in high school have already passed. But, EVHS's ASB hopes that it was undoubtedly an experience to remember.
"I just want people to know that. We just enjoy seeing people happy. This is ASB's goal with our job. We don't want to be like micromanagers of the school. We don't want to boss people around. But we just want to let people know that these are the 4 years in your life and we don't want people to miss out on these little but impactful experiences. Because we've seen people of different groups be able to play together and meet up." said Lauren, "It is these little things that add up and end up being so important in the end. And I want people to make the most out of things that we offer them."
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