After almost four years of hard work and dedication, seniors have been partaking in adding an extra day to their spring breaks, or Senior Skip Day. This long period away from AHS causes us to wonder: what did seniors even do with this time? After they came back, we got the chance to ask them all about it.
Seniors across our academies missed school for Senior Skip Day, and Samuel McEathron used this extra day of break to be at Zilker Park in the sun. But later, Samuel went on a “camping trip with his brother, two of [their] friends, and one of [their] friends who graduated from Austin High.” On Wednesday, March 18th, they “drove down to Buda, met up at one of [their] friend’s houses.” Most of their time was spent playing games like volleyball, eating, and tubing on the river. Samuel exclaimed that the most memorable part was “going down to the river with all [his] friends” to race around.
Samuel’s friends were interrupted by a raccoon that “came and tried to steal [their] pan.” They had to “fight that thing off, [it] came back a few times,” stated Samuel. Finally, they were able to scare it off with “some rocks and stuff, so it ran off.”
Lily Burpo also spent her Spring Break on a trip. She began Spring Break early with Senior Skip Day out on her friend’s boat. However, Lily was taken “on [her] dream trip, which was to go to Egypt.” Just outside the windows of her “really long flight, [you] could see the pyramids.” Her trip consisted of what “sounds cliche,” but they “rode camels in front of [the pyramids], and it was the coolest thing [she’s] ever done.” She also got the chance to ride a hot air balloon over the city of Luxor, which was one of Lily’s favorite moments.
Lily’s once piece of advice to future seniors is that “you don’t have to do what everyone’s doing to have fun,” said Lily. “A lot of people made it seem like you have to go on the senior Cancun trip, but I had the best time of my life doing something on my own that I really was passionate about.”
Lots of seniors went out and spent time together. On Senior Skip Day, a few people went to the Commons-Ford Ranch to enjoy some time outside. Josiah Milewski was one of those seniors. He and some friends “just hung out and played some volleyball for a little bit” at Commons. Josiah definitely spent a lot of time outside and remarks on his time outside as a theme for his break. Josiah even spent some time out “by the coast and did some sea fishing.” The fishing was one of the more memorable parts of the break. Josiah caught “a big red fish, a big black drum, and a bunch of catfish!”
Someone who went rogue and didn’t participate in the fun at Commons was Senior Luke Silvers. On the day of Senior Skip Day, he just “gallivanted” around the city with friends. For that first day, he and some friends went and “got coffee, went thrifting, ‘to the record store–just a bunch of stuff.” This break was a time of relaxation for Luke. His most memorable aspect of the time off was his “daytrip to Fredericksburg with some friends,” stated Luke. “It was really chill and lowkey, [we] just hung out.” He also had an enjoyable time at South by Southwest. Luke “saw some cool bands, didn’t do any movies or tech or anything, but the music was good,” stated Luke.
Zilker was another hotspot for breaks. Ari Gerhard spent Senior Skip Day at Zliker Park, where a friend of his “was playing volleyball, so [they] met him [there].” During their time there, Ari and his friends played a game he described as “where you divide a paper into three parts and then you draw a character.” This is a popular game where you hide what you drew from your friends, and you each draw a third of a character, resulting in a monster-like creature.
Ari’s break was unlike Luke’s in that it wasn’t all about relaxation. Ari had a sense of “freedom, you know, [because] you kind of feel trapped in school. He feels like he “wants to do so much stuff” during the school time, but isn’t able to. He got a “taste of what the summer is gonna be like.” Ari also celebrated his birthday during the break. His “house was empty and [he] was house-sitting all week and [he] had a big birthday party–all [his] friends came over,” stated Ari. “I was present,” added Luke.
