Class of 2029 Mixer

By Cooper Winkler '26

This May, the incoming class of 2029 had the opportunity to meet their peers for the first time. While many of them had attended Open Houses and Accepted Student Night, this was their first chance to meet students who they know will be accompanying them this fall at Notre Dame.

Many arrived early to get their uniform fittings, but most arrived when Ms. Aleandre and Ms. Brilliant delivered two speeches welcoming them to the school. Afterwards, the incoming Freshman were separated from their parents and put into Anne’s Values groups where we did activities reminiscent of those done on Anne’s Values Day.

As an Anne’s Leader, several other girls and I were charged with leading these

activities. We first introduced ourselves to each other, and decorated the name tags the incoming Freshmen had been given. Meanwhile, we began to introduce them to the Anne’s Values - values they will be following and upholding throughout their time at Notre Dame (and hopefully, beyond).

We then attempted the human pretzel challenge. I had done this numerous times and had never been successful, but I was optimistic that this time we could do it. However, after two attempts (one with my partner in the pretzel and one with me in the pretzel) we found ourselves unsuccessful.

Our final activity was friendship bingo. This activity allowed us to get to know each other better - finding out who had pets, what seasons we all liked, what music we liked to listen to, etc. After two rounds of this I found myself getting to know the incoming Freshmen better, and the Freshmen began to open up to each other as well.

Towards the end of our 45 minutes together we answered the incoming Freshmen's questions about Notre Dame. We assured them that they would love Notre Dame as we could tell they were very nervous.

After we had said our goodbyes to the incoming Freshmen, they went downstairs to the ice cream bar in the Commons. Overall, I think the Class of 2029 Mixer was very successful, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it.

All Photos Courtesy of ND Instagram

Edited By: Kavya Chacko '26 & Ms. Brillant

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