Senior tradition brings competition, camaraderie

As the year comes to an end, seniors prepare themselves to leave UAHS and attend the college of their choice.  With several graduation requirements looming, seniors need an entertaining way to unwind and alleviate stress; senior tag offers just that.  A UAHS tradition where seniors form teams to battle in a month-long water gun fight, teams try to eliminate one another by chasing oftentimes sporting their suits at school or even barricading others in order to eliminate their competitors.
However, senior tag may be too extreme for some. UA 2010 alumnae Katie Gordon recalled how intense her senior tag experience had been.
“What a lot of people did last year was wear their bathing suits to school,” Gordon said. “For me last year, people put recycling and trash bins in front of my garage so I could not get in-but I ended up outsmarting them, so that didn’t work.”
But what happens to the seniors who are not as innovative or alert as Gordon? They will most likely be ambushed on the way to their car in the morning, welcomed by seniors with water guns and ice cold water. For many, probably not the alarm clock they were looking for.
Another factor is how families or businesses may be affected. Unsuspecting siblings may be accidently targeted over their senior brother or sister or public businesses who become the intermediary between a senior fight.
I recall my dance studio being ambushed once or twice in order to squirt people who I danced with who were seniors.
As a result of these actions, squirtguns were banned from the premises, something that at the time seemed obsurd, but was only to protect the building and its contents.
For many students, they’ve been waiting eagerly for many years for this experience to come.
Mallory Miller, a current senior, recalls looking up to her older brother.
“When I was a freshman, my brother was a senior and they went all out and I was so jealous I didn’t get to do it,” Miller said. “I’ve been waiting to be in this for four years. Hopefully it will be worth it.”
Senior tag can be a senior’s last hurrah at UAHS, and many try to make the most of it.  Surely, many students have already thought through tactics for eliminating their opponents.
“The biggest tactic is to find out if any of them do any extra-curricular activities so you can hide and get them while going to those,” Miller said. “There are usually rules about not tagging people on school grounds, so I’m hoping to get them out in public!”
So when your turn comes to be part of senior tag, remember to have fun, but to also take families’ boundaries into consideration.  •