Harlaxton House Competition

The student community at Harlaxton is shaping up to be really great. With roughly 140-ish students milling about the Manor, it's not hard to get to know everyone. It's nice to have other students to around to share these new and sometimes challenging experiences with.

Exactly like the Hogwarts houses in Harry Potter, Harlaxton's student body has been split up into four different groups of students to compete for "House Keys" at the end of the semester. The four houses are; Gregory (named after the original owner of the manor and known for it's leaders), Mercia (apparently they've won the competition many semesters in a row), Newton (the super competitive smart ones, named after Sir Issac Newton who was born sort of close to here), and Pegasus (has only won once in the past few years).

The houses are based on personality types and interests. Every student was emailed an online quiz to fill out before they arrived so they could be sorted into their proper house. I was hoping to get into Gregory, but Mercia and Newton sounded pretty cool too, but in the end, I was placed in Pegasus. I was slightly bitter at first, just because Pegasus has such a lame reputation compared to how fierce the other three houses seemed. However, as we've started our house competitions and such, I've realized I've been sorted into the proper house. We're all kind of lame, not really competitive, and would much rather make jokes about losing instead of actively trying to beat the other houses.We elected a captain for our house, and in his acceptance speech he promised to "make Pegasus great again" and he promised to build us all wall (making the other houses pay for it of course). I think it's going to be a fun semester.

The problem is, the competitions so far have been things like trivia nights, and dodge ball tournaments, and scavenger hunts. All actives that sound fun in theory, but are actually very intimidating when you're up against other houses who are taking it all very very seriously.

Luckily, my time to shine has come. The nurse, secretary, and a few other women in the manor have come together and started a knitting and crocheting club! They've purchased yarn in the color of our houses and are providing instructions and needles for little 4"x4" squares which they plan to stitch together into blankets to donate to a local charity. The house that manages to make the most squares by the end of the semester wins! And while everyone else is just learning how to make chains and basic stitches, I've already completed two squares. I finally found a way to contribute to Pegasus!

 There are other ways to win (and lose) house points as well, such as grades, athletic tournaments, weekend sign outs, participating in college events, and more. So far, Pegasus is in second place! I'll keep you updated on the points as the semester progresses!

xoxo Annie