Water guns, floaties and spirit days turned daily school weeks into a campus-wide deadly zone. Students rushed to their vehicles and rides after the final bell, searched around parking lots for seniors hiding behind vehicles with water and carried colorful floaties everywhere they went as this year’s senior assassin game intensified across and outside campus.
What began as a fun senior tradition quickly evolved into a highly competitive and dangerous challenge that kept students constantly alert during their final months of high school.
Senior assassin is a student-run elimination game in which participants pay an entry fee and attempt to eliminate their assigned targets within a time limit using water or water guns while protecting themselves from being eliminated with the use of their floaties. The main goal for every participant playing is to achieve the cash prize pot bidded by every player.
Throughout the competition, players used strategies, alliances and themed spirit days to survive each round and purge rounds. For many seniors, after being eliminated, they are given the opportunity to participate in a dare in order to re-enter the game for a second try, or pay a secondary fee. The game created lasting memories and added excitement to the final stretch of the school year.
“I think although some of the spirit days are embarrassing and random, they definitely made the game a lot better and fun,” senior Dulce Pallares said. “I honestly enjoyed participating in every single one of the spirit days we were assigned to participate in, and they have definitely helped create some fun memories on campus. The fear of participating in public and expectations of the reactions upon students was probably the best part. I was excited to plan out my outfit as well.”
Pallares said spirit days became one of the most entertaining parts of the competition because they encouraged participation and exposed players who forgot to dress up. While some students focused on school spirit to stay safe, others relied more heavily on strategy and preparation outside of campus.
“My strategy was to always make sure I had my floatie in my backpack every night so that I never forgot it the next morning,” senior Luis Linares Sanchez said. “I also stayed in my house various times when purges happened to keep myself from elimination.”
Linares Sanchez said survival often depended on staying prepared and avoiding risky situations during elimination rounds. As the competition continued for months, many students also began noticing how much the game affected their daily routines and sense of awareness.
“Senior assassins has effectively changed my daily life a lot, especially towards the end because thats when it really got competitive,” Pallares said. “I’m constantly anxious and checking my surroundings every time I’m out of my house in case someone pops out of nowhere, like my front yard bushes.”
Pallares said the competition became more intense as fewer players remained in the game and strategies became more unpredictable upon the few remaining players. While many students focused on surviving eliminations, others enjoyed how the game brought the senior class together through shared experiences and daily conversations, becoming socially interactive between them.
“Honestly, the game made senior year feel more exciting because everybody was involved in it somehow. It happens yearly, so I was excited for my opportunity to play come by,” senior Isiah Cardenas said. “Even if you weren’t playing, you still heard about eliminations and strategies every day at school.”
Cardenas said the competition created conversations and alliances between remaining players across campus and gave seniors something to bond over during their final semester. As more players were eliminated day by day, the intensity of the game increased and students became even more determined to survive each round for that prize pot.
“I started planning my whole day and getting in contact with my friends to make sure I wouldn’t get out,” senior Devin Aragon said. “There were times where I would wait inside stores or ask friends to check parking lots before I walked outside because people were always trying to catch you slipping.”
Aragon said the unpredictability of the game forced many of the seniors to constantly stay alert when they were outside of campus, even during ordinary activities after school. While the competition centered around eliminations and survival, many participants said the friendships and memories created throughout the game were what made the experience worthwhile.
“One of my favorite parts of senior assassins was seeing how involved everyone became,” senior Vanessa Morelos Gonzalez said. “People who normally didn’t talk to each other were making plans, sharing information and helping each other stay in the game. It made senior year feel a lot more connected and memorable.”
Morelos Gonzalez said the game encouraged students to interact with classmates they may not have spoken to before and helped create lasting memories during their final months together in high school.
Despite the paranoia and competitive environment of the competition, students said senior assassins had became one of their most memorable traditions of their final year before their graduation. Although the competition brought a lot of stress to many players, strategy and constant overthinking, following caution of their own surroundings, many seniors said the game made their final months of high school more memorable. From embarassing spirit days to surprise eliminations, senior assassins gave students one last shared interactive and thrilling experience before their graduation.
