The senior prank is one of the most anticipated events of the year, taking place on Fr. Edwin Leahy’s ‘63 O.S.B birthday, Dec. 2.

The celebration started out when the community wished Fr. Ed happy birthday through singing. Immediately after the song ended, a group of seniors walked out with a birthday cake, now known as “FredCake”.

Amare Hunter ‘23 shouted “Hold on, there’s no cake outside the caf! There’s no cake outside the cafe! Where’s NDO Champ?”

NDO Champ is a muscular social media influencer who promotes staying fit and an overall healthy lifestyle. His signature stomp barging through the HAB gym’s doors sent roars through the bleachers. Charging in NDO only had one thing on his mind, making sure that the cake would not be eaten outside the cafeteria. Anyone who stood in the way was launched to the side as his kick catapulted FredCake to the Gates of Heaven.

When NDO was asked about why he demolished FredCake, he said “Only babies eat cake!”

No one, including the birthday boy himself, knew how to react. NDO Champ aggressively strutted over to Fr. Ed, saying “Come on man, we gotta do a pushup! We gotta do a pushup!” The muscle man dropped to the floor and effortlessly completed a number of superman pushups. Fr. Ed, however, was too stunned to move a limb. Those two were instantly in the eye of the storm, surrounded by hundreds of students who did not want to miss a single second of this electrifying series of events.

As the energy in the room was dying down, the headmaster had a couple of things to say. “Only the ones of us who work out in the box realize that if I were not wearing all of this, I am as big as him.” This joke sent the whole community to laughter because we could all tell that he was being humble, as he is obviously three times the size of NDO.

On a more series note, he said “For birthdays, you need to reflect on who gave you the gift of life . . . it’s important to realize that you are loved.” He went on to say that the first thing he does on his birthday is thank his late parents.

It was clear that this prank put smiles on the faces of everyone in the community. There was even the rare sight of Fr. Ed enjoying himself during morning convocation. These are the type of days that strengthen the bonds within the community, making St. Benedict’s Prep a place we can be proud of.