Tradition: It’s a driving force. A glue. A builder of history. Year after year, it bonds the students of Texas High closer together. For seniors especially, such traditions become even more important, as they signify an end to the years they’ve experienced together.
Senior Sunrise, an event exclusively attended and organized by the oldest class, took place on Friday, Aug. 9 at Bringle Lake Park at 6:15 a.m.. A beloved tradition, Senior Sunrise serves as a way to kick off the senior class’ final year of high school.
“So I planned Senior Sunrise, and it’s kind of a tradition that they’ve done every year,” senior Kelsea Head said. “ It’s just kind of like a student-led, student body kind of thing that we do for the senior class.”
Despite the casual nature of the gathering, a considerable amount of planning went into the event to ensure it ran as smoothly as possible
“So I essentially just went off of a friend who just graduated and did something similar to what they did last year,” Head said. “I was able to get my mom to make the shirts. I planned out a time and made the invitations and sent it out to a few senior group chats. It was also nice because we didn’t have to rent anything out.”
Most of the seniors watched the sunrise on the dock overlooking the lake. This location, combined with the multitude of people in the area, led to a few unexpected complications.
“At some point, once a lot of people had walked on to the dock where we were taking pictures, one side started going underwater,” senior Elle Floyd said. “Everyone screamed and ran to the other side but then that side started sinking, so we all had to clump in the middle. It was kind of frightening, but also really funny.”
If said dock complications weren’t memorable enough, some took even further liberties in terms of creating an interesting experience for those that attended.
“Well, I was asked to jump in the lake, and I said I’d do it for some money,” senior Bryce Depriest said. “And I did get paid, and I did flip in.”
All stunts aside, what truly makes Senior Sunrise special is the time spent together as a class.
“It was just a great way to start off our year,” Floyd said. “ It definitely brought us closer for this awesome last year of high school.”
