At Chewonki, it is a tradition for each dish crew to plan a Saturday night activity! My crew was second, and we were nervous to follow a very successful evening of cabin-mate trivia. Our first lunch meeting was not the most inspired; we threw out a lot of halfhearted suggestions. Then, someone mentioned SNL. I had been missing watching the show with my sister every weekend, so I was excited to recreate it!

After meeting at a few more meals, our plan began to form. We quickly figured out that many of our original grand ideas would not be possible, but we did our best to think about the details. We came up with Chewonki themed skit prompts such as polar plunge gone wrong, a species quiz interpretive dance, and celebrity kids coming to Chewonki. We decided surprise props would also be a good idea so we ran around collecting the most random objects we could find. Our best ones were a hobby horse, a sled, and a spatula. After the most amazing student-made sushi dinner, we hung fairy lights in the Flintstones to set the ambiance.

Everyone gathered, not yet knowing what they were in for. We had hangman on the board and told people to shout out letters. They finally got to the answer: MCSNL. As confused faces looked back at us, we shouted “LIVE FROM CHEWONKI, IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT!!!!”

We created random groups, gave out prompts, and watched people talking and laughing as they went off to practice their skits! We dropped off the surprise props after 10 minutes, and called them back after 20. Liz, a girl on my dish crew, sang a parody of Taylor Swift’s SNL monologue, and mentioned everyone’s name in rhyme. 

Then the skits began! I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was definitely not what people came up with. I got to see a yeti fight, an evil soup monster, the Kardashians, Tiktok dances, and more represented by my classmates. I laughed so hard my stomach ached. 

Besides the laughter, it was amazing how vulnerable and open everyone was so early in our semester. I loved seeing different sides of people, and I am so grateful to have had a part in planning that experience! I am definitely going to remember MCSNL for a long time!

-Adia Smith, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, Brookline, MA