Plus The Hood Internet

Zoe Camp, BC ’14, was on a boat last night.

This year’s New York City Event started off with a heavy dose of déjà vu. 2014ers strolling—or in the case of the many high-heel-clad girls, clopping—onto the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum were greeted by a clapping, whooping sea of NSOP types. For a moment, it felt like Class Act and Convocation all over again. But it was Thursday night now, and we knew better.

But enough with the nostalgia. This year, NSOP did away with the zoo animals (très lame!) and mummies at the Met and treated the incoming class to a dance party, complete with a nautical theme—how else to explain the vaguely screensaver-ish fish backdrop framing the dance floor and the otherwise odd choice to play the Lonely Island’s “I’m on a Boat”?—and a mostly genuinely danceable playlist featuring the likes of Deadmau5, Lady Gaga, and Major Lazer.

Those not in the dancing mood were in for an unpleasant surprise, however, as the only other option for the night was to sit on the floor of the flight deck and chat. Still, the night was comfortable, the view of Manhattan spectacular, and the absence of ice-breakers and refreshing change of scenery made for some of the least awkward (and… dare one say most normal?) conversations to be had all week. As an added bonus, the $2.50 bottles of water and the lack of comfortable seating united all four schools via one of the most powerful methods of peer bonding known to man—griping.

Still, most of the complaining fell off within an hour or so, as more and more 14s found their way to the dance floor. By the time the night’s special guests—Chicago mash-up duo The Hood Internet—took the stage, the Intrepid felt more like a club than a museum. For an hour and a half, guests got to experience a great show, complete with trippy, Super Mario Bros-inspired backgrounds, pulsing lights, and some ingenious musical concoctions, the crown jewel being a mix of The Ting Tings’ “Shut Up and Let Me Go” and Estelle’s “American Boy”.  The spectacle was so alluring, even the wallflowers by the edge of the deck began to drift over to the dance floor.

And so, four hours later, a flood of tired, sore freshmen trudged off the Intrepid—this time without the sea of clapping NSOP staff members—and began a long journey home. There was no clip-clopping—many girls had gotten blisters from dancing to Justin Bieber in high heels—just the quiet shuffle of bare  feet on the pavement. Still, the class of 2014 was smiling: they were on a boat. Sort of.