(June 8, 2012) — While most seniors on last fall’s Catalina trip enjoyed the boat ride to Avalon or the arcade, Irina Kharatyan and her friends went exploring on their own. “Me and my friends went on an adventure to this, what we thought was an abandoned building, but it really wasn’t. It was just a random building in the side of the mountain,” Kharatyan said. With so many awaiting adventures, seniors went early in the morning to Long Beach for the boat ride to the island. For some, the highlight of the trip was the boat ride, or the fact that they weren’t being chaperoned. “The boat trip to Catalina Island and back to Long Beach was very cool, literally,” Adrian Alvarez said. “If you sat on the open top of the boat, the cool breeze could knock you back.” The island offered a variety of activities to do, such as mini-golfing, playing in the arcade and riding bikes. Natalie Sarukhanian and her friends took advantage of the fun available. “One of the highlights of the trip was rock-climbing. It was a long walk to the place and we had to wait a little, but it was definitely worth it,” said Sarukhanian. The island itself isn’t that big, so there is enough time to go around most of the activities like Alvarez did with his friends. “My group did about all the activities, except for scuba diving,” he said. Some students went straight to the food right when they got to Avalon. Catalina has many different restaurants, ice cream shops and snack shops as well. “The first thing my group of friends and I did was eat at a pizza place,” Alvarez said. “We were given peanuts as an appetizer and were allowed to drop the shells on the floor: a unique experience.” Although only 83 (about one-third of the senior class) went on the trip, the ones who went agreed that it was a lot of fun. “For me and my friends, the trip was really fun. We enjoyed it more than we had expected,” Sarukhanian said. With so much to do, Pateel Keledjian also had a good time as she played miniature golf, rode bikes and spent time with friends. “It was a great experience,” she said. As the trip came to an end after such a long but exciting day, it was time for another boat ride back. “We were all really tired but still managed to play card games and make jokes on the boat and in the bus,” Sarukhanian said.