“Glow” Bright Like a Diamond: Neon Strikes Benson for Another Saturday Night

Photo Credit: Rose Huang

By Rose Huang ’29

7:30, Saturday night. Doors open. Lights drop. A beat starts, and Benson loses its mind. For the next two hours, the dance floor belonged to anyone willing to glow.

The Neon Dance in mid-September is one of St. Mark’s long-running traditions, and the crowd came ready. Bright pink and yellow shirts flared galvanically against the dark room, thrift-shop finds from the previous night debuted on the dance floor, and neon paint turned faces and arms into glowing tattoos. This year, Neon was held on September 12.

Getting there took work: Ms. O'Connell, faculty members, and student volunteers hauled in the equipment and decorations on Friday night, then spent Saturday on ladders, stringing neon curtains and hanging neon posters. Ms. O'Connell bought the decorations with no fixed plan for one mission— where anything went, students and faculty used their artistic vision and, together, improvised the room by instinct.

As the sky darkened, the DJ took over, and the old reliables never let you down. As "Beauty and a Beat" by Justin Bieber sounded, the floor detonated. On your way to Benson, through the windows, you could glimpse neon lightning striking the dance floor with every beat. Walking in, a heat wave washed over you as you beheld the crowd bunch into a tight circle, the bravest jumping hardest at the center while the energy rippled outward. On the rhythmic songs, hands went to shoulders and a train wound through the room where people scurried to find the ends and gripped the shoulders of the person in front, whether they knew them or not. By the time the night thinned near nine, the diehards formed a ring like a stage and took turns diving in for flips and tumbles while everyone else cheered them on.

Not everyone came to dance. Tucked to the left, the photo booth was brought back, drawing some of the loudest praise— and the longest lines. "They brought back the photos, which I think is really cool, because people always like to get dressed up and take photos," said Alexa '28, a returning student who came with three friends. “We came because we went freshman and sophomore year. We always have a lot of fun." She figured this year was "an upgrade" from last, and gave part of the credit to the food: "It kind of draws people to the event more." Outside, the ice cream truck kept a steady queue of dancers cooling off between songs.

The dance beats, the photos, the truck each gave people a different reason to show up, and, for exchange students, a first impression of St. Mark's. "It's really fun. It's quite different," said Alexia, coming from an all-girls school in Australia, where dances are called "socials." Maybe different, but year after year, wherever the crowd comes from, under the neon, everybody glowed the same.

From Club Fair to Community Life Fair

By Zihan (Chelsea) Cao ’28

What counts as student life at St. Mark’s School? In past years, the answer to this question would be “clubs”, but this year the answer was different. This year, our Club Fair has been replaced with a new name — Community Life Fair. This event brings not only clubs but also affinity groups, musical groups, and other student-led activities on campus together in one event.

This change was motivated by the desire to showcase all the different organizations available at school. “Our student life isn’t just clubs,” said Ms. O’Connell, “we want to show all the things students can do outside of academics.” By showcasing all of these organizations and activities in one space, the school hopes to present them not as individual groups but as parts of a larger, shared community.

One of the main goals of this event is for students to have the opportunity to “try things they’re interested in” and have a “first try” at something they have never done before. The school hopes students won’t just simply sign up for activities but also explore curiosities about things that they have never done before. Students may come with a solid idea of which organization they want to join, but the wide selection could lead them to a new, unfamiliar activity. A small Q&A conversation about an unfamiliar activity at a table could spark curiosity and start a journey into something new.

This opportunity to explore the wide range of activities may be precious for new students at St. Mark’s School. At the beginning of the year, the school introduced new students to the norms, expectations, dorm life, and a new environment. The Community Life Fair gives these new students another opportunity to understand the school.