As students walk into a room of peers, full of excitement, to begin the epic game of musical chairs, they quickly learn they have to expect the unexpected. A typical game of musical chairs is played with around 10 people with nine chairs, but in this instance, there are 80 people with 79 chairs, at least eight times the average number of people. The rules laid out prior to the match are not very extensive; in fact, they are quite simple: no biting, no horseplay, no grabbing, no pushing, and if there is a dispute, it comes down to eyewitnesses. 

Before the actual meeting of the Musical Chairs club, it began with Musical Chairs Club founder senior Harrison Klotz and faculty sponsor Kipp Sanders. 

“It started when somebody proposed a funny club to my teacher [and]it got the gears turning on other fun clubs that people could start,” Klotz said. “I was expecting him to play it off as a joke and not have interest in it. He came back the next day to go through with it.”

Klotz and Sanders worked as a well-oiled machine to make this dream a reality. Although the process of setting up and planning this event was extensive, the overall process was eventful and well worthwhile. 

“I would say that getting things planned and keeping people interested was a daily thing because I was the one running the Instagram page,” Klotz said. “Engaging with people and keeping content coming out [about] the idea was an every other day task.”

Klotz and other officers, including seniors Blake Allen and Jonathan Rooke, juniors Annie Bennett, Eameena Mezbha and Nira Ranganathan, worked consistently to go through with this idea and make it a fun experience for everyone involved.

“I could just tell that Harrison and everyone that helped were really happy,” Sanders said. “I thought it was a great turnout. It seemed like everyone was there in good spirits and to have a good time. 

The expectations for this club were greater than the actuality of it based on the infamous yearbook photo with 250 members that took place on October 6, 2021.

“When they did the yearbook picture, there were hundreds of students, so for a while, I was worried that maybe it was going to be a little out of control,” Sanders said. “Again, Harrison did a great job of planning it and working with [administration] to make sure they felt good about it.”

When the meeting first began, the room was full of students waiting to start the game and find out who would be crowned the musical chairs champion, winning a golden chair and a custom winner shirt. The first song, “Dancing Queen” by Abba, played, calling on everyone to begin walking clockwise. One student in particular, junior Preston Ho, got out in the first four rounds. 

“I felt very betrayed because my friend was behind me and I sat on [the chair] first,” Ho said. “I beat him, but he kind of forced me off. Honestly, I thought there were going to be a lot of punches thrown and a lot of hazardous [things] happening, [but]it was super chill and I had fun here.”

When down to the final five, there was an intense round of rock, paper, scissors to determine who would win the chair and who would get out. After a few more rounds, the last two students left, junior Madison Nguyen and senior Makai Lewis, had a showdown to the end, using the prize golden chair instead of a regular cafeteria chair.

“I think at some point people were trying to get me out,” Lewis said. “I’m a competitive person even if it’s something as simple as musical chairs; I’m going to compete and try the best I can to win.”

There was controversy over the victor of the game due to the fact that when the music stopped, Lewis pulled on the chair, moving it away from Nguyen, giving himself an advantage to win.

“I felt cheated and robbed,” Nguyen said. “In the beginning, they said no pulling on the chairs and Makai pulled on the chair and I still lost. It was announced randomly that he won, even though there was no deliberation, [but] I think I definitely won.”

The aftermath of the game the following day resulted in star status among Lewis, the winner, and Nguyen, the runner-up. 

“One of my teachers was like, ‘We have a celebrity in class,’ Nguyen said. “I just really think it’s a joke that we can all laugh about.”

With Lewis, his status came from social media sites and other people hearing about the controversy between the true winner.

“After being tagged in the Instagram post, I had a lot of people request to follow me,” Lewis said. 

Reflecting on the overall experience of the game, members of the club were happy with the turnout and how influential it has been to the students. Originally coming from a joke, Klotz was pleased with the level of interest from everyone.

“I was very happy with the turnout because the whole thing stemmed from a funny conversation in class,” Klotz said. “I didn’t know what to expect so 80 people was perfect; it wasn’t too big to manage but it was enough to have fun.”