It’s hard not to notice the feeling of uneasiness and paranoia in the air at Garfield. With everyone obsessing over getting back-in parking and keeping their water guns ready at all times, it is obvious that it’s that time of the year: Senior Assassin is here!. In case people are unaware of what that is, it’s a game played country wide by high school seniors. A person who’s playing gets assigned a target and has one week to get them out by recording themselves spraying them with a squirt gun, while simultaneously avoiding their own assassin assigned to them. The winner of the game gets a pot of buy in money,, giving incentive for some to take it very seriously. Some people could take some notes from Joie Cunningham, who was the first to gain immunity in the game by getting her second target out only one day into the round. Joie explained how you have to “Go big or go home.” She has “been waiting to win this game for 4 years.” She said that watching the seniors play last year fueled her passion to win, and gave her time to strategize. She advised, “Don’t trust anyone, including your friends. Little tip, the people who are already eliminated are salty and will rat you out.” Friends are turning foes in this time consuming game, causing some distraction from school work. There has been some discourse with teachers over whether the game impacts school too much, with many ‘hems and haws’ heard when a water gun gets taken out in class. But after an announcement from Mr. Reese on the intercomms, it has been made clear that although it’s played by Garfield kids, it is not a game for school.
Many changes and nuanced situations have emerged in this year alone for Senior Assassin in ways that previous rounds haven’t seen. These changes have been met with mixed reactions and some complaints, but to Eric Wakefield and Cassie Ainsworth, these changes were necessary for a fairer and more community centered game. The biggest change made this year was to the entrance fee. “Last year, it was $20, which seemed just like a ridiculous amount of money,” said Wakefield. This year, we lowered it to $2 because we kind of thought that, in both me and Cassie’s opinion, raising the buy-in just kind of makes it worse, because people take it way too seriously, and it can quickly turn into a toxic thing, and also it just makes it less accessible to people.” They also decided to “try and just make it the most objective that we can with nuanced situations, [and] adding the purge, or things like that, just [to] make it so that people feel like they have a fair shot at continuing through the game, rather than feeling like they’re being screwed over by certain rules,” said Ainsworth. When dealing with difficult situations, Wakefield said they’ve “been leaning towards being on the side of the person who’s saying that the person isn’t out just because if you get somebody out and it’s not for a good reason, or, it’s kind of unfair, [it’s] a lot bigger of an impact because they can’t get back in.” Ainsworth added that her and Eric, “just talk about it and try and come up with the fairest and, like, most objective, answer that we can, and then also, from that, like, set ground rules,” so moving forward they have more clear solutions and fairer answers for people. Both see the game as a way for the entire senior class to bond with each other and have fun as a class before graduation. “I also think that it’s just, like, it’s kind of a really fun opportunity for seniors to get to bond with each other because people work with their friends to get people out, or things like that. [You] can also, like, feel the end [and] graduation coming, [and] just really want to have fun at the end of the year. And this is, like, a fun, still competitive way to celebrate. [Plus] every single person in a class has exactly equal opportunity to join and, like, everyone’s on the same level and the targets are completely randomly assigned. So like whether it’s your best friend or, like, someone you have never heard of, [you’re] all playing it together.” Ainsworth explained. Although many people have gotten out, it is far from over. Only two rounds in and there have been highs, as well as some low lows. Whether you got out on the first day, or have gotten immunity both weeks, it’s been fun and I think we’re all excited so see what goes down in the weeks to come.
Although many people have gotten out, it is far from over. Only two rounds in and there have been highs, as well as some pretty low lows. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of it all, causing people to go to some extremes. Everyone needs to remember that at the end of the day it is just a game, and we still need to respect one another. Whether you got out on the first day, or have gotten immunity both weeks, it’s been fun and I’m excited so see what goes down in the weeks to come.
