Every year, ASB organizes senior assassins, a game where seniors compete for a cash prize by teaming up and shooting water at their targeted classmates.

While the game builds up a lot of excitement, students’ expectations may actually be set too high. After playing a similar game on a cruise ship, senior Austin Macdonald-Shedd decided to sit senior assassins out. And he’s noticed that when people do join the game, they tend to lose interest halfway through.

“The effort you have to put in and the fun you think you’re going to get from it doesn’t really line up,” Macdonald-Shedd said. “I know way too many people who were there and literally didn’t try.”

On the other hand, students can get swept up in the game, resulting in serious consequences. Competitors wear floaties, which serve as protection against assassins. But ASB announces purge days– days when the floaties can’t protect you. On these days especially, the students’ pent-up energy engulfs the campus.

“[On] a purge day, our assassins chased [my partner],” Good said. “She was sprinting and didn’t really look so she ran right into a car. You’re not supposed to [play the game] in the parking lot, but people still do. She had a bruise but she’s fine now.”

Despite the administration’s effort to enforce some rules, seniors still get carried away. Beyond the intensity, competitors have found loopholes in the game. This has left our school’s tradition with room for improvement.

“[Senior assassins] could be harder and more secure,” senior Cassidy Good said. “A lot of people figure out who the targets are and claim they have a list of all the targets. I was told who was getting me, so people can pretty much figure it out really easily.”

By modifying the structure of senior assassins, ASB can improve the game to keep seniors excited. Meanwhile, the core purpose of the game is still something a lot of seniors appreciate, which keeps students of other grade levels excited for their competition.  

“I wasn’t in it that long but it was still fun playing it [because of] the suspense and being with a team,” Good said.