Hulahooping in Humanities

Caltech students have long been known for their quirky sense of humor and creative pranks and for finding unusual ways to have fun. What is something that you find fun or humorous?


While my classmates conversed in hushed tones about philosophy, I stood alone in the back corner of the room—hula hooping.

My Humanities teacher had asked me to hula hoop for the entire class period to prove my claim that I was the "best hula hooper in the world." And I had accepted because I enjoyed the hilarity of the situation. Imagine! Hula hooping for an entire class period!But after the first ten minutes, people lost interest and my fatigue caused the humor I had derived from the situation to wear off.

I entertained myself with the prospect of writing a philosophical treatise on what I had learned while hula hooping. I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of combining the solemn, sorrow-riddled worlds of Kierkegaard and Spinoza with the all-American, happy-go-lucky activity of hula hooping. I would make sure to include Kierkegaard's angst and questions such as What am I doing here on Earth? Why I am at school? Why am I hula hooping? As I racked my mind for more philosophy, I was knocked out of my reverie by one of my classmates, who spitefully stopped the hula hoop with his hand.

My philosophical treatise ended up condensing into a list, titled "Ten Things I Learned From 30 Minutes of Hula...

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