Plan B

By Anna-Lynn Tamminga

‘’EVERYONE QUIET’,’ Anya Shanmugabalan (12) was screaming at the top of her lungs while it started to rain harder and harder. About 20 middle schoolers finally quieted down and Anya was able to explain what the plan was. At that moment, I realized that Freaky Friday, especially for the leaders, was not for the weak. 

24 September 2024: “Hey class of 2025, I have come to announce a class meeting this Thursday during X-block. We will be talking about “Freaky Friday” where, as a grade, we unify ourselves and interact with the middle school. We will give them a chance to get to know more about us via games and more!” stated Sidharta Selvaraja (12) in a Teams message. I signed up thinking that it was going to be a chill and easy afternoon. During the next few weeks, we had a couple of meetings about what the groups were going to look like, and I found myself in the group of activities.

On the day of Freaky Friday, we had already spent more than 30 minutes setting up our game. Our plan was to play ‘capture the flag’. Everything was set and ready, and the middle schoolers were getting more excited by the minute at the idea of all the fun stuff they were going to participate in this afternoon. 

Unfortunately, right when we were about to start the fun afternoon, it started pouring. The field was soaked in less than 5 minutes, and our plan to capture the flag was impossible. At the same time, there were about 20 middle schoolers getting more and more impatient, they even started interrogating us about what we were going to do. Plan B was needed and no one knew what it was. The middle schoolers seemed to get more restless by the minute. I had thought of Freaky Friday as a relaxing activity where I wouldn't have to do much, but I hugely underestimated how hard leadership can be when circumstances suddenly change.  

Luckily our group leader stepped up and told us to lead the kids to the canteen. It turns out that charades make an excellent plan B and middle schoolers are very competitive. “It was fun to connect with the middle schools and although the rain was unexpected, Freaky Friday was still really fun and memorable,” said Shanmugabalan.

Freaky Friday ended up being a huge success, and that is thanks to the whole team who adjusted super quickly when things didn't turn out how they were supposed to. Being a leader and organizing an afternoon is not always as easy as it seems. In the future, whenever there is a sign up for an event where they need leaders, I will sign up feeling more prepared because I had the privilege of working with an excellent team who taught me you always have to be flexible and have a plan B prepared, just in case.