At Northwood, no phones are allowed in the living room, the dining hall, or the main entrance. But that’s not getting in the way of anyone’s dream to be “TikTok famous.” Lately, Northwood students have been consumed in the latest teenage trend: TikTok.

Senior Danny Colabufo’s TikTok account has been blowing up this fall.

TikTok is a social media for making and sharing short lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos. Only a few of its users get famous, and most don’t. However, regardless of their popularity–or lack thereof–in the app, TikTokers at Northwood tirelessly produce short and fun videos daily, anywhere on campus. Whether in the dorms, the student center, the freshman lounge, the dining hall, or even the living room, where phones technically aren’t allowed, students balance their phones on ledges or prop them up on tables to film themselves.

Many students don’t create content but watch others’ videos on the app. Before, during, and after school, sounds from different videos played on phones come from all around the school. Much of Northwood’s free time is now spent watching TikTok videos.

Two of the biggest Husky TikTokers are Marina Alvarez ‘21 and Daniel Colabufo ‘20. Colabufo came to Lake Placid to complete his last year of high school at Northwood. When he first arrived, he had no interest in TikTok. Within days, he became obsessed with creating short viral videos. His most recent post has over 279,000 views.

Colabufo enjoys his fame. “It feels good. It’s nice to see everyone liking my videos and to watch the views piling up,” Colabufo said. He added, “I originally started using the app with some of my friends as a joke, but it turned out the videos were fun to make, so I continued to make them. Now, my goal is to go TikTok famous.”

Of course, TikTok isn’t for everyone. Cian Murphy ‘22 isn’t a fan of it. “When people are on the stairs making TikToks, they block my path. I have to stop and wait for them to finish, and that annoys me,” said Murphy.

But even the critics are known to watch TikToks. “I do sometimes try and get in the background [of videos]. I also watch them during my free time,” Murphy admitted. “They’re really time-consuming and fun to watch.”

Northwood students are always pressed for time trying to balance academic and extracurricular commitments. But just like Colabufo, they are finding time in between classes, before sports practices or club meetings, and after study hall to fit in their daily Tick Tok time.

This TikTok post by Colabufo has been viewed nearly 400,000 times in three weeks:

http://vm.tiktok.com/5qh3R7/

In 1905, the doors of Northwood School officially opened, and everything within has been growing ever since. Each year brings change — new people come and others leave. But whether they’ve been here for a year or four years, all Northwood students experience Northwood’s original traditions.

Olivia Skriloff ’18 on stage completing the Name Game in the fall of 2017.

Throughout the school year, students have abundant opportunities to take part in the school’s traditions. Last Monday at school meeting, Ms. Mavis Agnew, Director of Residential Life, announced the first opportunity of the year: the Name Game.

When Mr. Thomas Broderick, Associate Head of School, first came to Northwood, he initiated the Name Game tradition. Since then, every year, during school meeting, a handful of students stand up and recite every student’s name and where he or she is from.

Though the task may seem pointless, it has profound significance to all members of the Northwood community. “The Name Game helps everyone at Northwood understand that although sometimes it seems like there are lots of people in our community, our community is tight-knit, ” Ms. Agnew said. She continued, “Doing the Name Game in the first month or two of school demonstrates that it’s not hard at all to get to know everyone in the whole school. It encourages people to reach out to others who they may not have had the chance to talk to.”

This year, Northwood has 192 students from 19 states and 24 countries. The student body is more diverse than ever.

Chelsea Smith ‘19 was the winner of the 2018 Name Game. Olivia Skriloff ’18 has the school record, naming everyone just one week into the school year.

Who will be brave enough to tackle the daunting task and follow in their footsteps?