The main idea of the freshman class float was a scene from “The Incredibles” in which the robot is just destroying everything. Many freshman float-builders agreed that the antagonist, the robot, was the most fun to make. It underwent a metamorphosis not unlike the robot’s experience in the actual movie. The robot had undergone a combination of materials from paper and chicken wire, to cardboard boxes. In the end, what really worked was seven rolls of duct tape.

Like many other things, float-building was a first for the freshmen. They were glad to hear from other classes that they had done a good job, compared to the previous freshmen classes. On the weekends, an average of ten to 12 people worked to build the floats.

“Even though some of our efforts failed, practice makes perfect, right?” freshman Peter Choi said, who found his way of staying involved with school activities by float-building.

At this time next year, they will have had their practice. But for now, like the saying goes, the freshmen will just live and learn.

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Although there were some days when only class officers worked, those who helped enjoyed the time in creating the float. The finished float stayed mostly true to the original blueprint, with changes such as the wall separating the two scenes giving way to a door, and the characters were not as 3-D as planned.

“It was easier this time because we kind of know what we are doing more,” Chen said.

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Junior Class of 2010

In the midst of finalizing the float, junior class secretary Kelli Sum nodded in contentment. She concluded float-building had gotten better and better every year.

“This year we had a lot more paper mâché than we had in the past two years,” Sum said.

Paper mâché composed the majority of the characters from the sophomore class’s theme, Monsters Inc.

Although there was the unexpected, such as the antagonist Randy who had turned into “the Lochness Monster,” the class, especially the class officers, worked well as a team to build their float, according to Sum.

“Every officer has a forté that they would like to express this time,” junior class president Samuel Lui said.

As the final minutes before the football game ticked away, junior class vice president Catherine Shieh retouched the position of the lights, and behind the float, a group of juniors wore a look of anxiety as a constructor reinforced the backboard.

It was not hard to imagine Randy smiling at the junior class’s spirit in all its 6’6″ of paper mâché.

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Senior Class of 2009

Traditionally, the winning float has “senior” written all over it. Nonetheless, the senior class still had to work hard to show the other classes what they didn’t have. After all, the seniors have had three years of experience under their belt. Who can top that?

Even then, seniors had a bumpy beginning.

“Well, the first time I came, I had a plan to come every other week or so,” said senior Wendy Du, who was praised by her classmates as the top contributor for attending almost all of the float-building weekends according to senior class secretary Cindy Kong. “But then I saw no one else was there, and I was like, ‘Oh wow, if we don’t get this done, then we’re going to lose Homecoming!’ So I realized I could step up and take control.”

Du steered the wheel for the artistic design side of the float, while others found joy in seemingly simple tasks like glittering and painting. But for most, float-building was a time to hang out with people who don’t usually hang out with each other and, of course, more importantly, “free food!” as senior Brendan Dinh said. He had hand-painted the cardboard boxes white with a small brush only to find out there was a large roller all along after he finished the job.

Free food seemed only trivial compared to the pride the seniors were rewarded at the end of the night.