(May 24, 2013) — On a late autumn morning, seniors were excited to embark on adventures of food, friends and fun. With the hopes of wonder and exploration in their hearts, they boarded the high speed boat from Long Beach with a magical destination to Avalon on Catalina Island. For some, it was the feel of the salty sea air hitting their face. For others, it was completely going with the infamous “you only live once” mentality, being unchaperoned throughout most of the trip.

“I liked the fact that the teachers trusted us enough to give us enough freedom to be alone,” said Alex Deravanessian. “They treated us like adults.”

The trip was seen by some as a vacation, just being cast away on a beautiful deserted island with your friends, like you dream about in your early years of high school. The island, only being about three square miles, leaves room for visitors to do all of the activities throughout the day, including stone-skipping, bike-riding, tree-climbing and ice-cream eating. “We had a lot of fun playing mini golf,” Deravanessian said. “And a few of my friends accidentally hit their [golf] balls too hard and they shot into the water.”

On the boat ride back, seniors continued to engage in conversation, while couples continued to enjoy the beautiful night view. “To all the seniors that missed the trip, you missed out on a class bonding experience where we learned a lot about each other, had a great time and had some great food,” Deravanessian said. ”In the end, I was happy because I had a great day.”