Where were you last Friday? If you’re a senior, you enjoyed the beginning of old events. On Friday, September 8, seniors were on campus as early as 5 a.m., waiting for the sun with friends, snacks, and blankets.

But where did we all go after? As it is well known, the day that senior sunrise is held, it’s a tradition for seniors to consider it a “ditch day.” While most stayed around waiting until the clock hit 8:22. Many others, despite their early arrival, were nowhere to be seen. The answer to the previous question has many reasons and depends on the student’s situation. Throughout the week following up to senior sunrise, I heard whispers and conversations from students about the events after our ditch day. I thought I’d share my personal experiences on that day and ask other students, in school or not, what they did and why.

I started my day by waking up at 5 a.m. from a phone call from a friend, then rushing to pack the cookies I baked the night before. Senior sunrise was a bit more still than I had imagined it’d be. So I stayed on my blanket, eating dry cereal and drinking a mango smoothie. Eventually, the sunrise came to an end, and 7 a.m. approached. I watched as most students began to leave the field and then the campus as I began to do the same.

I was back home and back in bed before 8. I knew my day would follow a different schedule than a usual Friday morning, and I had a plan. First, I would go to the beach, get breakfast, go to a mall, and then the beach again. As for the execution of the plan- I needed a ride. Fortunately, I got my sister and her boyfriend to join me and drive me around. Now, the project was in motion. So, instead of getting ready to head back to school, I was prepared to head to the beach. Before starting the drive, we had to stop at two different Starbucks to get a drink. Due to the number of people at that time, it was clear I wasn’t the only one out of class.

Step one was already in progress as we drove toward Laguna Beach with swimsuits and towels. Since the first step was already solved, we focused on the second part, breakfast. Luckily, we quickly found Driftwood Kitchen, a restaurant with many breakfast options and an ocean view. After eating, we moved on to step 3- going to the mall. We went to Newport Beach for the Fashion Island shopping center, where I saw and walked in the middle of a Koi fish pond. It had been a few hours since we arrived, and we still wanted to enjoy the sun, so we returned to Laguna and spent another hour at the beach. We got in the ocean, lay in the sand, and when it was time to go home, we stopped at Starbucks one last time.

After doing so many things in such few hours, I thought of everyone else who hadn’t. I thought of all the seniors who decided to stay at school and miss out on their ditch day. Just like I almost did. To get a perspective on those students- I asked a friend what made her go to school that day. I knew earlier that she had hoped to miss that Friday, so I was surprised when she said she had come to school that day. She said that the night before, one of her teachers sent an email out to the parents about an important lesson that would be taught that day. Naturally, this caused concern with her parents, leading them to send her to school the next day.

In short, whether you were at school that day or not, you benefited somehow. I enjoyed having fun instead of sitting in class all day. But because I missed class, I had to get home that day and work on assignments all weekend, ensuring I got everything in on time. Which is something that people present that day didn’t have to struggle with. It’s almost like we traded in a day of fun for a weekend of homework. All in all, it was a fun senior ditch day experience.