Folk Tradition:

“Basically every year the senior class orders these hoodies. Theres a design submission contest of all the different designs/ideas.  Every year is different. On the back it says your grad year and it has in small letters everyone in the grade’s name. And on the top you would get your own nickname or something funny or something people would call you. The cabinet starts planning it the year before when you’re a junior. They call for design submissions. They narrow it down to two and then the grade votes on the grade facebook page and everyone would pick from the top two. They announce winner based off facebook poll. All semester the next year its like, ‘When are they ready?’ ‘They’ll be ready soon.’ Since its done by the grade, productivity depends on the people doing it.

It’s a really fun day cause everyone is so excited to wear them. The day we do it depends on who the people who are ordering it are. Each grade has their own cabinet in the general student council. The cabinet is who orders them and plans it. But there’s not an official day like the fifth month or whatever. But everyone gets it on the same day and then everyone wears it.

For our year the design was the Dubai skyline. The Burj, the highest building, said 2016 cause that was our graduation year. Underneath it was the Dubai skyline. Every year is different. On the back it says your grad year and it has in small letters everyone in the grade’s name. And on the top you would get your own nickname or something funny or something people would call you. I was gonna get [informant’s nickname], but since I didn’t go to school there anymore I thought it would be funny to get ‘she doesn’t even go here’.”

Context:

This tradition is hosted by the leaders in student government, but not the school itself. Being an American school in Dubai, I think this is funny that they put so much weight on this hoodie design competition because I went to high school in Southern California and we had a big design competition for our senior grad night t shirts as well.

Background:

The informant is 21, and self identifies as a “third-culture-kid”, meaning she does not identify as being from one place alone. She grew up in Southern California, Wisconsin, Lebanon, and Dubai. This tradition is from her American school in Dubai. She says that, “The school actually isn’t there anymore. They merged it with another school so it just doesn’t exist.” 

My Analysis:

The folklore of an American school in Dubai is interesting to look at because most of the attendees, like my informant, have not grown up in either location predominantly. Most of the attendees have lived their lives all over the globe, bouncing from country to country. So, the folklore of this location is unique because it is exclusively made up by the people and not attached to any one geographic space. A hoodie is the perfect reflection of that. Many other senior pranks or traditions are tied to the space of the school itself. For example, I’ve heard of students pooling money to donate a bench in their classes’ name or a tree. Those permanent things do not have meaning to this community because they are all so transient. For example, my informant was not in attendance her senior year. However, she could still participate in the tradition because they could mail her a hoodie. It is something small and easily packaged for everyone’s future travels.