Every person who has been on the fourth floor knows that the fourth-floor lounge is the senior lounge. Usually, the lounge is full of seniors, and only seniors. It is very rare to see anyone who isn’t a senior in the lounge, and if an underclassman makes it in, then they probably won’t be there for long. What many students don’t know is that the administration never officially designated the fourth-floor lounge for seniors. Despite this, there are many senior lounge traditions whose origins may spark the curiosity of some underclassmen.

Firstly, the senior lounge has never officially been a senior-only lounge. In a press conference with Ms. Krupka, when asked when and why they decided to designate the senior lounge only for seniors, she replied “never.” Ms. Krupka continued, “I would love to see a coup where the freshman grade one day just moves in there and decides that it’s theirs. There was never anything formal or official that turned that into a senior lounge.” An anonymous sophomore said, “At freshman orientation, I remember Dr. Aharon referring to the fourth-floor lounge as the senior lounge and talking about how we shouldn’t go in there if the seniors are in school.” Whether or not the policy is official, one of the first things you learn as a freshman is to avoid the fourth-floor lounge. When asked about what her relationship with the fourth-floor lounge was as a freshman, Michal Seinfeld ’21 answered, “It was never explicitly stated that underclassmen weren’t allowed in the fourth-floor lounge, but it was definitely implied.” It appears that over the years, these statements have become more explicit because, at this year’s freshman orientation, Rebecca Kalimi ’23 remembers Dr. Aharon stating something similar to what she said to the current sophomores at their freshman orientation. “She told us that it is the seniors’ lounge and we shouldn’t go there if there are seniors present.” However, it appears that if there is a senior complaining about a non-senior in the fourth-floor lounge, the administration won’t do anything about it.

There are many senior lounge traditions including decorating it and watching the Los Angeles Glouberman Basketball Tournament, but what many people don’t know is who is behind it and when they originated. When asked who decorated the senior lounge this year, Gabi Potter ’20 answered, “this year Michal Rahabi decorated the lounge,” and when asked if he remembers these traditions in previous years, he responded, “When I was a freshman, I don’t remember for sure, maybe there was a TV, but I don’t think much else.” These answers are similar to Eric Kalimi’s ’22, who said, “As a freshman, I am not 100% sure, but I think I remember the seniors decorating the lounge and bringing in a TV.” This shows that decorating the senior lounge is a more recent tradition, while a TV in the senior lounge is an older tradition, but they are both fun and hopefully here to stay.

A question still remains: does the administration support the idea of seniors decorating the lounge? Ms. Krupka’s answer to this question was, “As long as it is appropriate, and by that I don’t just mean the language or the images, but done appropriately in that it doesn’t look messy or not like something that we should have in a school building. As long as we have that, I’m okay with it.” She explained, “A little bit of colored writing on the window, I thought was cute.” It seems that the administration supports the seniors decorating the lounge as long as it looks nice and is appropriate for an academic environment. Overall, the fourth-floor lounge may not officially be only for the seniors, but it is clear that through different traditions they make it an amazing space for the entire school to be around (though not inside).