As the end of the school year is approaching, seniors at Manitou Springs High School have started the end of the year tradition, Senior Assassin.
Senior Assassin is a student run game that involves water guns where students form teams of two and are assigned weekly targets. The goal of the game is to eliminate the target that you and your teammate were assigned with a water gun, while also avoiding being eliminated yourself. “It’s a game… not affiliated with the high school, but all the seniors pair up to play this like game of tag almost,” Kara Donegan, a senior in charge of the game, said. “You have goggles to protect you and water guns, and you basically get a target to eliminate each week.”
The tradition of Senior Assassin has been happening at MSHS for the last 4 years. The game is built around suspense, teamwork and stealth. Each week, teams are given a new target and while they are “in play” which is indicated by them not wearing their goggles they are able to be eliminated. The last team that is left standing wins a pool of money that is collected from participants at the beginning of the game. “It’s just a fun senior thing that we do,” Donegan said. “It’s a good way to enjoy the end of the year, and also you get to win money if you win.”
Brianna Perry, another senior playing Senior Assassin, joined because it is a school tradition. Perry believes students participate because it’s a unique opportunity. “I think it’s a fun senior game, because it’s kind of like fast bonding and there’s not really a fun game as a class we can play throughout high school.”
The social aspect of the game helps bring classmates together in a fun and unique way during their final year of high school. Although the game can be suspenseful it’s a fun experience and a way to have fun before graduation.
Senior Assassin also motivates teams to come up with different strategies to eliminate their target. “I’m trying to wait to get people that I know are my targets, to get close to them,” Perry said. “people I’m close with, to get them out.”
Besides being a fun game to play in the last couple of months, Senior Assassin also allows for students to interact with classmates who they might not know. “It gets you to know your classmates better,” Steger said. “If you need to get someone out you learn about their extracurriculars. Do they play sports? Do they do plays? Do they do other stuff? I think it creates a better class morale.”
Gabriel Cisneros is another senior that is participating in this year’s game of Senior Assassin. “Everyone else did it the year before, so it sounded fun,” Cisneros said.
While he enjoys playing the game, Cisneros has concerns about the rules of the game. “I think the rules are not very well dictated,” he said. “It leaves a lot of gray areas where you can just assume certain things.”
Despite some mixed feelings on parts of the game, Senior Assassin remains a fun and unique part of MSHS. No matter if students join the game for the thrill, the chance to win, or to bond with classmates, Senior Assassin continues to leave a fun and lasting impression on MSHS.
