So last Friday was my school’s senior trip, and in tradition with our preceding classes, we had decided that we would spend the day at a Six Flags Amusement Park (The New England park to be exact) and I couldn’t have thought of a better place to go. To start off, the park was considerably empty with the majority of park goers that day being school groups like ours, so this meant there was basically no lines everywhere in the park! Even big ticket coasters such as The Superman Ride/Bizzaro had only 45 to 50 minute waiting periods during peak hours, something unheard of for the biggest and most daring roller coaster in the park! Also in addition to this, the weather was perfect for a day in the sun. The air was cool and the sky was clear, it was so nice out that some people were wearing their class sweatshirts throughout the day. Overall it was a fun experience and I will always cherish the better memories of the day, but there are still some that aren’t exactly what I’d like to hold onto, truth be told, and these seven things barely scratch the surface of what will happen during the last trip you'll partake in together as a class.
1. If there is a water park, you will see things you can not unsee
It’s just a simple truth, if you put people around water, articles of clothing will be shed. It’s what society expects us to do, but when you’re a modest girl who spent the entire school year in sweatshirts and jeans, it can be pretty awkward to see your entire class clad in bikinis and swim shorts. Plus on top of this, it’s even worse when one of them decides to forgo the expected bathing suit bottom for just their underwear and still participate in the water activities. It was just plain disgusting and frankly it was something no one wanted to see.
2. You will have your principal’s phone number in your phone at the end of the day.
This was just sheer misfortune on my part that my principal, who I am only starting to be on good terms with, was the leader of my group on this trip and since I was labeled as a “responsible” student, I was one of the two students she contacted to make sure none of us were dead. Sure I can delete the messages and block the number if it really creeps me out that much, but at the end of the day my principal has text messages from me in her phone which isn’t what any student ever wants to admit to.
3. You will feel perfectly normal wearing a cape.
You can’t go to Six Flags and not get a cape. It’s just not possible. My class was no exception to this rule as a fifth of us came home with Super Wo/Man, Wonder Woman, and Batman capes all billowing behind us in the wind. It is not as weird as it looks from the outside, especially if that fifth decides that the next school day everyone will wear their capes to classes. However you will still feel weird, oddly enough, when you realize that your group is the only school trip without matching t-shirts.
4. There is a reason as to why the back seats of buses are normally reserved for the troublemakers.
Normally, in the mornings on your bus, when the backseat is yours and you sit across from the girl who became the self-proclaimed “Mom” of the group, things will be calm, with maybe a heated conversation about what happened to the other since you both saw each other last, before settling into a peaceful silence. That isn’t happening on a senior trip though. We both sat together, three seats from the back, to and from the park, and not a single moment passed without some sex joke or modified dance party occurring. You can’t escape it either, as no volume setting is loud enough to block out what is going on around you.
5. If you don’t like rap, you will learn to tolerate it.
Somebody will bring a bluetooth stereo and you will have no control or input into what song’s played. You will listen to your classmates yell along with the lyrics about drugs, sex, parties, and all sorts of other things that will make you, someone who was cut from the good girl cloth, extremely uncomfortable, but you will have to listen to it as no one would turn it down if you asked. You will still hate the genre when the music stops, but you will no longer cringe when it comes on.
6. Going on a roller coaster three times in a row simply because there is no line is a very bad idea!
Trust me on this, hours afterward you will not be able to walk because your legs are so bruised from hitting the lap bar to keep you from flying out. If you must insist in doing this, make sure you’re sitting next to someone rather than just an empty seat. Your legs will thank you later.
7. You’ll feel like crying when it hits you this was the last time you’ll make these kind of happy memories with these people you’ve known your entire lives.
Alright, you knew this one was coming. The senior tip is a signal that this chapter in your life is ending and this is supposed to be one last free-for-all before being able to mature into adulthood, however you won’t want it to ever be the last time. You will want to somehow convince everyone to do it all again, even though you know it’s not possible. To top it all off though, it will hit you at the worst moment. Primarily when you’re on your way out the park singing along to “Cups” by Anna Kendrick. You’ll realize just how true the lyric “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone” will apply to the people you’re with, and for a moment you’ll be scared of what “The End” truly means and to be honest you will not be okay with it at the end of the day.
It’ll take you a while to come to terms with it and that’s okay. That’s natural and it’s just a part of growing up, but you’ll also realize that isn’t something you should focus on during this memorable day. The senior trip your last chance to indulge in your high schooler status, and should be treated as such. So goof off and have fun. It’s your day to celebrate being a senior so take it. You deserve it and you earned it. No amount of weird realizations will ever change that.
