As the biting-cold winter days grow shorter in anticipation of spring, Rowan After Hours (RAH) is ready to start the new semester off with a bang. 

RAH’s Back To School weekend began last Thursday, Jan.18 and ran till Saturday, Jan. 22. Each night was themed to take students on a nostalgic journey of school-years bast, beginning with elementary school on Thursday, middle school on Friday and high school on Saturday night. 

Thursday’s event, entitled Schoolhouse Rock! had everyone lacing up their light-up sneakers for a night of grade-school games. Board games, sweets and pizza took center stage and what grade school reenactment would be complete without an awkward yearbook photograph or two? 

Friday’s event, entitled RAH’s Declassified School Survival Guide, took attendees back to a time before politics and work were important, when Silly Bandz, Minecraft and inside jokes were all that mattered. Attendees could make their own stunner shades, go rock climbing and stuff their own personal emoji pillow. The main attraction was a black-light dodgeball tournament between teams of six, where the winners were awarded with Hydro Flasks. All it was missing was a battle of the bands but that’s on the​ Chamberlain Student Center & Campus Activities (​SCCA)​ ​team’s radar of events for the future.

Saturday’s event, called Sky High Saturday, took attendees out of the high school classroom and into the times between: the summer vacations, the boardwalk trips and the weekends with friends. That sentimental time between childhood and adulthood where we encountered many firsts: first job, first love, “first time,” among others. Sky High Saturday sought to create a mellow atmosphere for the contemplation of high school and how far we’ve come since then with a boardwalk-inspired suite of carnival games and carnival food. Ring toss, shooting hoops, caricatures and a buffet of burgers and hot dogs made it easy to forget one’s troubles. 

Julie Shannon, a grad school coordinator for RAH who joined last June, organized DeclassifiedI and other events, such as last year’s Swifty Saturday. 

“[Back To School] is the first three-day event this year, but it won’t be the last,” Shannon said. “We put in the same amount of effort year-round, no matter the outcome…if one person has a good night, it was worth it.” 

Mustafa Abdus-Samuur, another graduate coordinator and the organizer of Sky High, expressed similar views on the place of RAH in the community.

“We cater to everyone. We’re here every week to get people together,” Adbus-Samuur said. “RAH will always be around. We’ll always be there for the students. That will always continue, no matter what.”

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