My Crowning Achievement

(Miranda, on the left, as an upside-down tulip (she did a head stand for the official competition) and me, on the right, as the right-side-up version.)

October 25. The day has come. I wake up and scour my room for green tights. I rummage through the pile of clothes on the floor (parents, if you read this, I will deny that this pile exists) in search of anything brightly-colored that will substitute as a headdress. One block away, my best friend goes through the same routine. Five minutes later, we meet in the courtyard of JE. We’re ready. Covered in red and pink and green from head to foot, we have become tulips.

Today is Tulip Day in Jonathan Edwards College, our annual event filled with tulip planting, pumpkin carving, cake eating, and general merriness. The highlight of the day (at least for those of us in costume) is the crowning of the Tulip Queen and this year, my best friend and I are determined to win the title. Last year, we found out that as long as you a) are an adorable baby and b) have spirited parents (aka the Dean of the college and his wife), you’re a shoe-in. But as cute as Serena is, I couldn’t let her win Tulip Queen two years in a row – the success would go to her head. So instead, I spent five minutes in front of the mirror securing an umbrella to my head in the most petal-like arrangement I could manage, and off I went.

Luckily for me, even the threat of being dethroned couldn’t wake my Dean’s daughter from her nap and with the reigning champion asleep in her crib, my best friend and I achieved an easy victory, receiving fabulous JE fleece blankets as prizes. After taking our victory photo and cutting the tulip cake, I sat down for some tulip planting and pumpkin carving and was reminded again of why I’m obsessed with Jonathan Edwards College.

Yes, Jonathan Edwards has become my home and family within Yale. Yes, our intramural sports teams are basically legendary. (Contest that if you dare, Silliman and TD.) But most importantly, as a JE spider, I’ve learned to wear outlandish costumes with pride. Whether auditioning for our “mock-appella” group (that’s mock-a cappella, also known as lots of people singing loudly and badly), or dressing up for our annual JE Halloween costume contest, I love having the excuse to don that ugly floral dress with the shoulder pads, tie an umbrella to my head, or toss on that platinum blonde wig. And just in case the pride of winning Tulip Queen 2009 doesn’t last me my whole life (although I’m pretty sure it will), there’s always Tulip Day 2010.