The Glory Days

In college, several of my male friends formed a new Independent (as in non-Greek) group our freshman year and dubbed themselves 'The Onions'.  My roommate Kayla and I cheered them on at their first intramural game (volleyball) and were loyal supporters of virtually all the Onion efforts over the course of the next few years.  We were close to a number of these...ahem, how shall we say...interesting guys.  None of the Onions fit the same profile; they were all uniquely different, and eventually the small group expanded to become one of the largest non-Greek groups who competed in the various competitions on campus throughout the year.  We got official Onions shirts, and the term 'Onion' become commonly heard on campus.  The guys even won the Intramural trophy our senior year, and there is still an active Facebook group of Onions today (we can't let the glory days go, you know).

Our sophomore year, The Onions decided to compete in the annual Variety Show sponsored by the Student Activities Council (SAC), of which I am proud to say I was a faithful member during my tenure at Union.  Basically SAC was the 'non-fraternity fraternity'; we were totally the cool kids on campus, and there is a Facebook group to attest to that fact (yes, Facebook groups apparently provide some form of validity).  The Variety Show was pretty much the most anticipated event of the Fall semester (although they have since moved it to the Spring semester- lame!); it served as the culmination of Family Weekend and set the tone for the remainder of the year in terms of which sorority would be able to brag because they won the large group competition. Variety Show was a big deal, and it was a blast to plan.

The Onions entered themselves into the small group competition.  This history-changing performance happened seven years ago this month, so you can imagine how these guys' lives have changed.  Many of them have completed seminary (or are currently attending) and are pastors, some are working on their doctorate, most of them have established their professional careers, and a good deal of them are married...But oh my dear friends, what you are about to witness will change your life forever.

Behold, some of my dearest friends in college, in their shinning moment of infamy (original footage courtesy of the one and only Trae):


Onions Variety Show 2002 from Jenny Johnson on Vimeo.

Needless to say, The Onions won the small group competition of Variety Show and cemented themselves as a formiddable force on campus.  And oh yes, you can thank Amy and I for making sure their 'C' wasn't backwards during the YMCA; we had to keep correcting them during dress reherasal...