Gordon’s Own Golden Goose

Golden Goose is a special event unique to Gordon College. Other schools have dances, movie nights and fairs—but Golden Goose, with its mix of live and pre-planned media, is as innovative as it is entertaining.

Freshman Gaggle: Megan Hammes, Antonio Vargas and Jaden Taylor
Group Stage Act: Star Wars Theme

Just recently acclimated to campus, this trio represented the whole first-year class well.

Vargas explained the feeling: “Representing the entire freshman class with two other freshmen, and then going against other very talented (and experienced) classes, was intimidating. Being selected to represent Gordon’s Class of 2019 was a honor, and I truly believe that the Freshman Gaggle (we call ourselves that) exceeded many expectations. We had so much fun through it all. If you asked us, we would COMPLETELY do it again.”

Sophomore Geese: Caleb Bae, Alex Monteiro and Nathan Burgett
Group Stage Act: Blacklight Dance

Sophomores were especially entertaining this year. Bae spoofed overprotective resident assistants in his video, while Nate Burgett battled Chan Yoon ’16 for the best haircut. Their skit was especially impressive, as they performed an intense blacklight dance similar to that of the famous Blue Man Group.

Bae said, “So Goose was an absolutely incredible experience. The time commitment was pretty massive, but completely worth it. The ‘week of,’ every spare moment of the day was dedicated to preparing for the stage act. We owe a massive thank you to our stage crew for sacrificing all their spare time (and then some), and sacrificing sleep to make sure that we were ready to go the night of the show.”

Watch the videos:
Caleb Bae >>
Nathan Burgett >>
Alex Monteiro >>

Junior Geese: Hannah Woodworth, Mirielle Nauman and Kate Ferris
Group Stage Act: Ghostbusters

Woodworth brought us on a journey of a goose just trying to fit in, and Nauman rick-rolled us over and over and over again. This year the juniors made headway as one of the most gender diverse groups of geese. The entire group of junior class performers was women—a first for the event and a great milestone, considering that only a few years ago it was an all-male show.

Woodworth said, “Being a part of the first all-girls group at Goose was actually a huge motivator to do a good job, as I wanted to represent not only the juniors well, but women in general. I had a huge amount of support from my residence staff, friends and CEC. I loved being a part of this super cool Gordon tradition!”

For Ferris, “It was at first really empowering to be a group of all girls. The three of us are independent, unique and funny women in science majors and really meshed well on those similarities.”

Senior Geese: Haylie Petre, Christina Waller and Chris Jones
Group Stage Act: Lip Sync Karaoke

Seniors took home the main prize, and they were definitely worthy recipients. Chris Jones had a hilarious video with a surprising guest star. (Phyllis Nakyejwe ’17 and I even had a cameo getting yelled out by senior goose Christina Waller in her video!) And their karaoke show ended how any good show should—with people intensely lip syncing Whitney Houston.

Jones said, “It was great to get to know the other Geese and form that special little gaggle with people I might never have even met otherwise. And, of course, winning feels great. It’s fantastic that we were able to entertain people with our work and make them happy, which is like the ultimate thing for me. And all I had to do to get President Lindsay was ask! He was super keen to help out when I did.”

All in all, it was an incredible show, thanks to Campus Events Council (CEC) and the Center for Technology Services (CTS), and it was exciting to be involved, even in a small way. Golden Goose is arguably one of campus’ best events—a rare chance for some especially entertaining students to showcase raw creativity, and for the rest of us to come out and enjoy.

By Sierra Elizabeth Flach ’18, communication arts and English language and literature (creative writing)