Are you Ready for a Challenge?
(Article from the Blair Breeze – October 2005)

As a three-year junior at Blair, I have heard mention of “the Senior Challenge” (SC) in only a spattering of school meetings, and each time I was too worried about the quiz I had next block to actually ponder what it was all about.

I recently overheard some seniors talking about the mystical SC in a way that hearkened back to the Holy Grail – everyone’s heard of it, but the details are, at best, sketchy. As my own senior year approaches, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and clear up the mystery once and for all.

Based on the confused seniors’ conversations, the initial impression I got is that the SC is, essentially, some kind of handcuff the administration is cleverly attempting to use to keep idle senior’s hands out of trouble. My research showed, however, that this was not so by a long shot.

The origins of the SC are simple: Blair teachers created the concept because they feared that once seniors got into college, those students would simply halt interest in anything but the bare minimum required to graduate and move on.

The SC, then, was born not to imprison, enslave or otherwise destroy the lives of Blair students. It is, instead, meant to foster or expand students’ interests in subjects, both civic and academic, that may mean something to them and which they would not necessarily pursue if “Senioritis” got the best of them.

The Challenge is an entirely voluntary, no-pressure system that simply asks Blair seniors to step outside his or her comfort zone. There are no requirements, no check-ins, no reaction papers and, for God’s sake, no grades.

On the contrary, the SC is a deeply personal undertaking that has less to do with the school itself than with the maturation of those who choose to accept it. The results of the SC over the last few years have been as successful as they have been varied: one student chose to read two books that even the most sadistic English 4 AP teacher would sideline (the student, in case you were wondering, not only survived but was turned on to an entirely new literary style); many of Blair’s shyer students have chosen to speak about a subject important to them in front of a full Dubois Theatre during Chapel (one student, admittedly, did not survive that ordeal); others have come together to foster community service by creating the “Secret 8” committee, which engages in random and anonymous acts of kindness; one student even interned at the nearby Crayola factory.

The possibilities, in other words, are by and large limited only to a senior’s imagination. Although the sky is the limit, however, not all acts outside of one’s comfort zone truly reflect the SC’s goal of self-growth. Skydiving, for instance, was a challenge a few seniors have recently been discussing. While it is impossible to argue that at 10,000 feet few people are particularly comfortable, the point of the SC is being missed. The Challenge is meant to better the student by expanding, in one way or another, the mind or the heart. Skydiving, while fun and irrefutably challenging, is more of an adrenaline rush than a life-altering experience. If you want to experience the SC, choose something that will help someone around you. If you want to free-fall, go to Six Flags.

Mr. Pagotto, Head of the Senior Challenge Committee, explained to me that those students interested in Challenging themselves begin the process at the end of their junior year. At that time, juniors fill out a form that outlines their goals for the upcoming year’s Challenge. They then connect with their Advisors, who help them sort through the ideas and focus on a particular one that is both interesting and beneficial to the student and/or the surrounding community. After Mr. Pagotto approved the final idea, some students, such as Leah Gardner, Anne Newall and the Fisher triplets (all ’05), chose to begin their SC straight away. Others chose projects that are time-sensitive or ongoing, or would rather wait until the hassle of SATs and college admission are over once and for all.

Either way, students who have completed a SC have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic and positive about their experiences. Mr. Pagotto himself is more than excited to welcome any ideas from the senior class, and hopes that juniors, too, will already start considering the Challenge for next year.

As I mentioned in the beginning of the article, I’m a junior. I’m pleased to announce to the Blair community that I have every intention of partaking in the Senior Challenge myself... as soon, of course, as I get that pesky skydiving bug out of my system.

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