Many Campo seniors have been asked, “What do you plan to do for your senior trip?” For some students, this question is easy to answer, but for others it may feel difficult. This difficulty can arise when students feel the need to match the extravagance of their peers’ plans.
With the second semester of the school year already here and graduation approaching fast, many seniors are in the planning process for their trips and it seems like many people are going somewhere expensive. Has the definition of a senior trip changed from something fun and simple to something that seems a little more like a privilege?
The concept of senior trips has been around for years and has slowly accrued into a giant snowball of expensive expectations that seem impossible to keep up with. Before, people thought of senior trips as a simple road trip with a close knit group of friends; it was a last moment together before separating and heading out on their individual paths. Now, even though the concept of it being a last moment with all your friends remains the same, many have made the destination further, such as a cross-country or international trip, resulting in higher expenses.
Senior Jiya Rao stated, “It sometimes feels like if I hadn’t saved up enough to go on this big trip, I would’ve been missing out on some key moments of my friendships.” Having all your friends be excited to go on a more pricy trip can add to the social pressure aspect of feeling the need to participate in these trips with your peers due to the fear of missing out on what could possibly be the best moment of your life, or even missing out on a joke that you would only understand if you would have just been there.
“It’s a common conception that you’re never going to see your friends again. The original idea of a senior trip came from a time when after graduation you would only hear from your friends through letters or the next time you’re in town, but in modern day it’s much easier to get into contact with your high school peers so the idea has changed,” senior Ori Rogers said.
Because we live in a different era where traveling is customary, it may seem more common for seniors to want to venture out to tropical places. However, accessible, expensive travel isn’t an experience all communities can participate in. A larger number of Campo students get to indulge because we live in an affluent area, and it’s important to not take this for granted.
Senior Michael Ko said, “Expensive trips have become more of a staple, especially in our area.” Living in a predominately wealthy Lamorinda community, more expensive trips are familiar for most students in the area. This norm has contributed to the conception that everyone is taking a big trip. Some students in our community may feel as if they need to pay for these huge trips due to repetitive talk about it from their peers in person and online. While it may seem innocuous, it creates a false impression that doing something extravagant is equivalent to living an interesting life, and this may lead people to make decisions to avoid being pushed out of the crowd.
While considering misconceptions and assumptions around the increasingly privileged quality of senior trips, it’s also important to remember that this trip is for you and your friends, it is not a performance for others online. At the end of the day the trip you take with your friends shouldn’t be completely influenced by others around you, but rather something curated for yourself to enjoy.
