Amidst the hustle and bustle of yet another Stanford fall quarter, we have finally reached Big Game Week and along with that, the annual Big Game Musical, Gaieties. The most well-known production on campus and one of Stanford's oldest traditions, Gaieties has been around for 101 years. It is a student-written, student-produced, student-directed, hilariously over-the-top musical extravaganza aimed at uniting the campus before Big Game. Gaieties packs Memorial Auditorium with crowds of Stanford students eager to beat Cal. As a part of the cast, I have worked, laughed, cried and triumphed for the past two months to bring this show to life. This production features a multitude of talent from all over campus, engineers to English majors, and really shows what Stanford is all about.

Despite the illustrious reputation of Gaieties in recent years, Gaieties is really meant to be so much more than a divisive show of offensiveness.   Beneath the superficial silliness and sometimes ill-humored jokes that are a part of Gaieties, a deeper message remains. Regardless of backgrounds, GPA’s and SAT scores, nationalities, dialects, swag (or lack thereof), we all have made it here to Stanford and it is important to recognize our own worth. By doing our best in the lab, on the stage, in the classroom and beyond, we each add a piece of ourselves to the Stanford story and become a greater part of the Stanford community. This week, while we celebrate Stanford’s successes on the football field, let us also celebrate the successes our fellow students are having around campus and grow closer as a Stanford family. Big Game week is more than just bashing Cal and cheering on Stanford. It’s about being ourselves and being proud of it. Come see Gaieties 2012: “Full Doom on the Quad”, and enjoy the show, and the Stanford Cardinal community as a whole this Big Game week.