Another Tinker Day?

Traditions don’t get a ‘do-over,’ rainy days happen.

 

BY: ASHLEIGH KRZYWICKI

 

Among the many traditions taking place at Hollins is the infamous Tinker Day, a day in which classes are cancelled for a hike up a mountain is an outfit not even someone from 1984 would consider. When they say hike, they mean a treacherous, painstaking climb in which even the most physically fit person on campus manages to break a sweat.

 

That aside, 2004 Tinker Day celebration took place on Oct. 27. The Hollins campus woke up to chapel bells and screaming seniors running through the dormitory halls banging on pots and pans shouting “It’s Tinker Day!” Sophomore Molly Fair sleepily walked to her phone to check the audix just to make sure it was really Tinker Day.

 

As the audix lady confirmed, it truly was time to head to Moody to eat a doughnut and climb a mountain. However, this year was slightly different. Due to the rain, acting president Wayne Markert decided to move Tinker Day to the Tayloe Gym. He replaced the grueling climb up Tinker Mountain to a brisk walk around the loop. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

 

“I just don’t understand why they didn’t have it on a nice day. Two days prior were unbelievably gorgeous! I just don’t get it,” said Fair. “I was not about to walk around in the rain singing class songs. I have better things to do with my life.”

 

For a myriad of reasons, Tinker Day was rescheduled for the spring. One reason was the rain. Yes, climbing a mountain in the rain is slightly more dangerous. Another was of course to show President Nancy Gray what Hollins is all about. There was also a rumor that the reason was because so many juniors were abroad in the fall.

 

That is ridiculous. Aren’t there always juniors abroad in the fall? Why is this year any different?

 

“I think having two Tinker Days sort of destroys the tradition,” said senior Elisabeth King. “I was not at all excited about it the second go around. I'm a big fan of tradition.”

 

Through and through Hollins tends to stand by its traditions. Just ask anyone who attended school here last year. When it was made known that perhaps someone should educate us about all of our odd little rituals, the administration seemed to make it their number one goal.  Even the slightly abnormal ones, such as Ring Night, Founders Day, and Tinker Day could very well fit into that category. But that’s what makes Hollins a ‘unique’ place to attend school.

 

“It sucked; it sort of took away from the special-ness of it, like, to just change a tradition like that. We didn’t even have any Tinker scares,” said Ashley Parker ’08.

 

The other half of Tinker Day is the month long, and extremely obnoxious, tradition of having Tinker scares once a week. Everyone loves the seniors running down the hall banging on pots and pans at 3 a.m. until it’s the real day of course, then it’s at 7 a.m. It’s sort of like a rite of passage.

 

“Not many seniors were excited about this semester's Tinker Scares,” said King. “I got an email, but it wasn't played up at all.”

 

The problem with having a second Tinker Day in the spring is that many seniors are far too busy with graduation to worry about Tinker Day again. It’s just not the same.

 

“I am so busy with trying to get my work done so I can graduate and finding a job for after school, Tinker scares are the last thing on my mind. I just think they should have stuck with the tradition,” added King.

 

Other students, however, agree that it’s nice to have a day off of school. Who doesn’t like having class cancelled for the day, especially if you have one at 8:50 a.m.?

 

“I think we should have more Tinker Days! I like getting the day off from classes," said Lindsay Urbani ’06.

 

The day started out with a few people rising to get their doughnuts and then a hot and sweaty hike up the mountain. Then by 4 p.m. it was all over. Fans across campus could be heard as students stood in front of them to cool off. It was time to put away that crazy outfit until the fall when the hype is there and weather isn’t so hot.

 

Let’s hope for the sake of keeping the tradition alive that President Gray doesn’t decided to make this ‘do-over’ policy a permanent one. Tinker Day is like Christmas. It’s just not the same if you celebrate it more than once a year.