Even if students haven’t heard of Senior Assassin, chances are they’ve probably witnessed it taking place or seen the updates on Instagram. Senior Assassin is a popular tradition among the senior class, where players pay a fee to eliminate their peers with a nerf toy, and the last student standing takes the money raised. The game can last a few weeks or a couple of months and typically winds down around graduation.
Senior Michael Roggenbaum chose to plan this year’s game.
“It was a little bit before spring break and nobody was putting [the game] together. I run some of the other social media accounts, so I [thought] I might as well put it together, because I kind of do the same thing anyway,” Roggenbaum said. “I was on spring break with a bunch of my friends, so we just decided to set it up and put it out there.”
To avoid accusations of cheating, Roggenbaum enlisted some of his younger friends to help out. Junior Ryan Kamp gave students their assigned target and was responsible for updating the players when new information came out.
“I gave all the assignments out,” Kamp said. “I put all the names in a shoebox, and I drew each name, and that was their assignment. I texted all of them their assignments, and then when [they eliminated] somebody, they would text me. But as we went on, they would just tell the person who they had.”
In addition to helping put the game together, this year’s winner was senior Dominik Languedoc. He was inspired by the previous senior class to play and loved the competitiveness of Senior Assassin. He remembers growing closer to his friends that would protect him, and recalls some of the close calls he had when almost being eliminated.
“Every time I had track practice, I would have to, like, run to my car to escape people,” Languedoc said. “It was pretty hard to get away from everyone on certain days.”
The focus of Senior Assassin is to have fun. Although some of the rules are focused on keeping the game organized and civil, most of them are to keep it lighthearted. Modifications are made every year to keep it interesting, and one of the most commented-on aspects of the game are “safety objects.”
Safety objects are items seniors can wear or carry to be protected from being eliminated. They change from day to day, and aren’t always available daily. Students are amused by the ordinary but out-of-place objects being worn by the majority of the senior class.
Roggenbaum tries to choose objects to make the game more entertaining and was especially proud of the day seniors wore sunglasses inside during the school day. Kamp’s favorite safety object was a crowd favorite.
“I remember [when] my senior friends would wear pool floaties to practice and stuff,” Kamp said. “We thought that was a fun idea.”
Although Senior Assassin is competitive by nature, Roggenbaum wanted to ensure goodwill between players. He created a new rule to help smooth over ruffled feathers.
“It’s funny watching people get eliminated, and they get mad, but they have to take a picture,” Roggenbaum said. “One of the rules is when you get [eliminated], you have to take a picture with the person who got you. It’s funny watching all the pictures come in when people are [still upset].”
Languedoc definitely saw a change in attitude amongst the senior class.
“People that participated didn’t talk to each other most of the time, but since they had to go and get their target, they would [have to] interact with them,” Languedoc said. “I feel like it brought everyone pretty close together, having fun and playing the game.”
Roggenbaum agrees with the sentiment. The sense of community was one of the reasons he wanted to create this year’s game, and he noticed changes in his life too.
“I think it’s just really fun, especially after your last spring break [together]. You get a lot closer with everyone in your class, even people that you’re not super close with,” Roggenbaum said. “I’ve talked more with people that have been going to school with me in the last month than I ever have. It’s brought people together.”
