Nikhil Gupta

Rushing to the cafeteria in anticipation of the upcoming night of festivities, freshmen flock to catch a table. Prior to the dance, the annual Fish Bowl event consisted of a club fair and pep-rally.

Awaking from their 3-month slumber, the hallways of Westwood host crowds of hundreds of wide-eyed freshmen on Friday, Aug. 10 for Fish Bowl. Adorned with elaborate decorations, the school also hosted enthusiastic club leaders, eager to educate students about their organization during the back-to-school yearly event.

Fish Bowl kicked off with the annual club fair, where rising freshmen looked through different booths in the hallways, each displaying information about a different club or organization.

“I really got to narrow my list of clubs down after being able to ask questions and get more information,” Apple Ma ‘28 said. “The posters and especially the props drew me to the tables.”

Additionally, upperclassmen volunteers stepped in to help out with advertising and setting up for their respective clubs and organizations.

“[Fish Bowl] was truly an eye-opening moment,” Ethics Bowl Vice President Charlie Hui ‘26 said. “I realized from the presentation [process] what people were looking for when deciding if they wanted to join a club, and I had to adjust my sales pitch four different times. That insight has made me reevaluate how to make Ethics Bowl more inclusive and fun.”

After the club fair came to an end, the rising freshmen participated in their first-ever pep rally, featuring performances from the Sundancers and Cheer team. They also played various games with pep-rally host and tennis coach Travis Dalrymple. The pep rally was followed by a dance come introductory party in the cafeteria, where students were given a chance to mingle after a long summer.

“Performing at Fish Bowl as a Sundancer was an incredibly rewarding and fun experience,” Sundancer Annabel Lu ‘27 said. “After a long week of practice and rehearsals, it felt amazing to finally showcase our hard work, and it was the perfect way to wrap up the week before school starts.”

As they anticipate beginning high school, rising freshmen enjoyed the Fish Bowl experience due to being given the opportunity to immerse themselves within their new environment. For upperclassmen club officers, they were given the chance to re-acclimate themselves to Westwood. 

“I think Fish Bowl let me get used to being in the building again and talking with friends and classmates after the whole summer,” Policy Debate Novice Coordinator Varsha Sivasubramanian ‘26 said. “Getting to see all the incoming freshmen was like a reminder that school is starting soon and everything’s picking back up.”