The senior trip is always long anticipated by the younger classes. I mean, why wouldn’t it be? A whole day without school, in another state, getting driven in a Coach bus, plus a plethora of activities. I always assumed I was going on the trip, it just seemed like I had to as a senior. However, is it worth the hype?
If you all don’t already know, a problem came up with the participation. The senior class is a little bit over 200 students and the spots on the trip are limited to 100 people. You would think that they would fill up quickly, correct? Only half the spots were filled by the deadline. Another thing that others must remember is that one spot on the trip is $120, meaning that the trip was currently losing an incredible amount of money. It nearly became so much of a disaster that they were considering opening it up to the junior class. Why did this close call even occur? Why didn’t people want to go on the trip?
“I just think it was too expensive for me,” said Sasha Gonzalez and Alisa Cruz, two seniors who were not able to attend the trip.
“Taylor, Sasha, and I just hung out instead of going,” Alisa said.
I know several students who didn’t attend the school senior trip and did their own thing like going to the mall or staying at home because of other reasons. A lot of what I have been seeing recently, not just for large trips like this but for several other events, no matter how big or small, has just been a lack of interest overall.
Where does this stem from? I see it more as I grow up, but there is just some glassy-eyed indifference in some people. Things typically viewed as traditions (think about decorating for Halloween) just don’t feel like “worth doing” anymore. Now obviously, both the trip and decorating the house for Halloween costs money. But in general, the lack of involvement is prevalent.
Now, we move onto the actual trip.
I arrived at school at around 7:23 AM with a stuffed messenger bag. What I notice is that a very limited number of my friends are there. I still trek on because I believe this trip is “tradition” and supposed to be fun, therefore I should keep moving with it. What I don’t expect is to be sitting for roughly the next hour, waiting for transportation (although late buses seem to be an incredibly common occurrence in our town, I was surprised even a Coach bus was late). This obviously bled into the allotted time that we were supposed to have during the trip, which was between 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and so between getting off the bus, learning the rules, and changing, we lost roughly an hour of activity time.
Next, we move onto the activities. The pool, kayaking, paddle boarding, an aquapark obstacle course, rock climbing, ziplining, and a few other activities were available to us. I will say that this was not the fault of the resort but more so the weather. It was well into the high 80s with mostly sun and to be honest, I really don’t like walking, I just brace through it. Ironically, I cannot swim. Also, in that time of only three hours, accounting for the fact that I needed to eat and also eventually change out of my swimsuit as well as allotting a minor wait period for boarding the bus, I did three activities. I went to the pool, I tanned, and I went paddle boarding. I went to record a few of my friends going ziplining.
Overall, the activities were great, I just wish I was able to do more of them. I especially wished that I had time for indoor volleyball but the pool was refreshing, I was able to get a bit of a tan, and paddle boarding was a fun time! Apart from the fact that me and my friends got yelled at three times for going the wrong way and because I was actively yelling at them because we weren’t good at paddle boarding in the least. We steered straight a couple times! Go us!
I have to say, the most disappointing part of the trip was the food. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was mostly hoping for a full meal. A plain hamburger may count but certainly not the hotdog and the highlight of lunch was actually the fries. The only two add-ons for the hamburger were sliced white onions and lettuce. Not even a slice of cheese which I could’ve substituted by adding the melted cheese for the fries onto the hamburger, however, the idea made me cringe. I added both the onions and the lettuce to the burger, as well as two ketchup packets in order to feel better. Again, certainly not what I was expecting but it counted as food and I needed to eat.
What messed this up more was the Ice-Cream Bar. Whatever you’re imagining, stop it. Imagine this instead: those little ice cream cups you receive at schools or buffets placed in a separate bowl with your desired toppings. You’re expected to pour the ice cream into the bowl and mix the toppings with it. It’s less than stellar, for sure. I was definitely upset by this, as I heard many people were, so I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t feel this way. That was truly my largest problem with the trip.
Overall, if more fundraising was possible, I believe this trip was worth $100 at the absolute most. It was a fun trip and I was glad to experience it in its entirety, it was just these few flukes that I felt were out of my control. I still recommend this trip because it’s an overall great memory to have. I hope future incoming seniors can experience this trip too.
