WOODBURY — It’s a Friday evening right after work for NHS senior class members. You’re exhausted, ready to go home, but you remember that now is not the time to let your guard down. At any moment someone could jump out from under a car, behind a post, or even disguised as a delivery driver. Their objective: eliminate their target in yet another rendition of senior assassin.
Then, it happens. You hear heavy footsteps running up behind you. As you glance back, you see someone darting towards you with an orange SuperSoaker in hand. Adrenalin takes over and you begin the mad dash for your car; you need to get there as your only safety lies in your back seat–a watermelon.
You reach into your pocket as the assassin starts to gain on you, fumbling to try and grab your keys. As you reach the car door, it’s too late as a stream of water hits you in the back, you have been eliminated.
This is senior assassin, a game that is played by senior students each year at high schools all across the nation. While the game isn’t school affiliated–or even recognized by schools–it’s nevertheless impactful due to its communal experience: be the last senior standing–or in this case–the last senior who isn’t soaking wet.
However, this year’s new rules were designed with safety in mind. Included in this year’s changes, students are required to hold at least a seven pound watermelon as opposed to smaller items such as swim goggles or floaties. Also, this year there are many more places and businesses off limits, making it a challenge for competitors to knock out their target.
“With the new rules it’s definitely going to be harder to get out targets,” says Lily Kiernan, an NHS senior. “Pretty much every place that seniors go is off-limits. The only place to get people out is an off-campus parking lot, so it’s definitely going to be a struggle.”
On the other hand, getting a target out isn’t the only worry, seniors also have to avoid elimination. As said earlier, the safety item this year is a watermelon, but this time it needs to be at least seven pounds. So, not only do students have to find a watermelon in the offseason, it also has to be big enough to meet the requirements and small enough to be able to carry around.
Anna Vicente, an NHS senior who is participating in senior assassin, understands the unique strategy required to win the competition.
“Without being able to find a watermelon and that being the only safe object to avoid elimination, I’ll have to be more careful of where I am and what I’m doing outside of the safe zones,” says Vicente. “I’ll be keeping my SuperSoaker on me at all times just in case and trying to avoid the people who have me as their target until I can get a seven pound watermelon.”
In past years seniors have been able to find ways to navigate new rules that make it a challenge to get targets out. So, it’s no doubt that this year we will see the same perseverance among the students.
Despite the many rule changes, seniors are still looking forward to the memories and the fun of the game.
“I’m looking forward to getting out of one of my friends,” says Zayne Brewster, an NHS senior. “I want to just make a really funny and unforgettable moment that we can bring up. I also think that it will be a good event to get us seniors together one last time before we part ways at graduation.”
