On Saturday, January 7, the 2017 MSMS Senior Tribute was held in the Mississippi University for Women’s Rent Auditorium. Students from the classes of 2018 and 2017 filed into the auditorium to mingle with and honor their seniors and grand seniors.

The show began with the traditional introductory scene, in which a junior walks across stage posing as a 2016 MSMS student, states the name of their character, and then lines up at the back of the stage. Preparing the cast list for one-hundred and twenty seniors wasn’t easy. Senior Dustin Dunaway stated “(the) challenge was to make it as inclusive as possible, especially (with) the obscure seniors we didn’t really know.”

To decide on who would play each member of the class of 2016, Dunaway enlisted the help of several members of the class of 2017 to help identify graduates that others were not familiar with and pair them with an appropriate match. Though a lot of pondering was necessary to complete the line-up, the effort shone through. Dunaway said he was “most proud of the intro scene and some of the perfect portrayals such as Joy Carino played by Gary Nguyen, Caleb Marshall played by Jack Sparkman, and Gianni Stennis played by Kyle Brown.”
The intro scene also required a good bit of effort on the actors’ part. Junior Sarah Swiderski (who played Madeline Mixon) said, “I received several emails about what to wear, and a few of the seniors in charge helped me with getting some of Madeline’s mannerisms.”

A few of the juniors were also given props to help them portray their character, most notably Rosie Andrews’ blanket cape, a staple item for grand senior Liz Lanford whom she was imitating.
The introduction scene was followed by a handful of scenes written by members of the class of 2017 depicting a typical conversation between friend groups in the graduated class. Senior Haley Hsu, one of the scene writers, said, “It was challenging to remember exactly what happened. But my favorite part about writing was imagining what the seniors would’ve said and how they would’ve said it.”

Each scene was packed full of laughs and fond remembrances for the class of 2017; however, many juniors were left out of the crowd. Dunaway said “some jokes didn’t resonate because the performers weren’t familiar with the content; they didn’t get the jokes they were making, essentially.” Simply put, they just had to be there.

As the event came to a close, students from all three classes mingled in the auditorium lobby. Hsu said that she enjoyed visiting with the graduates because “I really miss our seniors! I love having our junies here! But having our seniors here again made me realize how much I miss being the junie.”

Dunaway also enjoyed seeing the class of 2016, stating “(I) loved hearing their stories about college–gives me hope. College is terrifying, and hearing some success stories eases that discomfort.”

As seniors visited with their old classmates, the juniors were able to meet their grand seniors. Swiderski said, “I did get to meet Madeline and she was very sweet. Overall, my favorite part was definitely getting to know a handful of my grand seniors during the dance. I’m really glad they could make the event and hope that they enjoyed it!”

The following is a link to a recording of the event taken by MSMS counselor Heath Stevens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErB-a41MBBE&feature=youtu.be