By Katie Bernardo
Imagine the perfect Senior Day. The sun is shining on your and your fellow seniors’ faces. The smell of french fries and ice cream takes over your senses as you hear screams of excitement and bonding around every corner. You feel special and celebrated by the unusual school day.
Rather, you arrive at school at the usual time and head to the football field bleachers, and then later the gym or the blacktop on campus. All of these are locations you’ve been hundreds of times throughout your high school career.
Senior Day is a celebratory day that is granted to seniors while the underclassmen take the PSAT. In the past, Senior Day was much more exciting because it was an off-campus experience for the graduating class that everyone would look forward to.
A couple of off-campus events seniors have gone to in recent years include Six Flags Magic Mountain and Calamigos Ranch in Malibu.
However, due to a recent law, which states that students can no longer attend an event during school hours that they must pay for, Senior Day was moved to campus. This law’s goal is to ensure school experiences are suitable for all income levels.
Similar to last year, this year’s Senior Day consisted of games, a petting zoo, a blackout dance, and the panorama picture.
There was a lack of specialness to this experience because it was still on campus. Like other senior events such as prom and graduation, this day holds high expectations because they are all once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Instead, this year’s Senior Day feels more like babysitting because the seniors do not take the PSAT.
As a senior, I had higher expectations for this day. Since this day is dedicated to seniors, I did not think we would be entertained like toddlers.
Despite the limitations that the law has brought to this day and the attempt to still provide entertainment, Senior Day seemed a bit childlike for people who will graduate in just a few short months.
“As seniors we found the day to be a waste of time because the activities the school provided are too outgrown for our age group,” senior Maya Frank said. “I wouldn’t necessarily call these activities ‘fun’ but rather meant for children. Also, this day is enforced and counts as an absence, so we feel obligated to go.”
There are ways to make the day a little better for future seniors. While keeping the on-campus entertainment because we understand that attendance is important for school funding, the school can add an additional off-campus activity outside of school hours later that day. This could include an optional Six Flags trip where the seniors can spend the rest of their day enjoying themselves.
Overall we appreciate the attempt at entertainment, but this felt like another day at school and not Senior Day.
The Plaid Press 