Due to the fact that Senior Week is officially canceled, many soon-to-be graduates of the College are finding themselves scrambling to make alternative plans. This proves to be frustrating for many due to the last minute notice and the oh-so-pleasant truth that college kids tend to be short on funds.
Some seniors, unwilling to give up the tradition of spending time with friends after school gets out, are getting creative and have scraped up some plans on short notice. One popular alternative is going down the shore with some friends.
Alyssa Phillips, junior secondary education/history major, is helping her senior friends by providing a shore house for them to stay in. "I had been meaning to have people down my shore house and even though I'm a junior, I have a lot of friends who are seniors ... so I figured it would be a fun way to end the year," she said.
Cassie Kahn, senior biology major, expressed interest in going to Atlantic City - a mere two hours from the College - with her friends. Atlantic City is not the only beach, however, where students can have fun. For those who are uninterested in drinking, the dry town of Ocean City, N.J., is nearby and has an entertaining boardwalk. Kahn also happens to have some of the more unusual plans reported. "I will be going on a cruise with 25 other (College) graduates in June so it's like a Senior Week on water," she said.
This vacation was planned before Senior Week's cancellation, but it's an idea that future generations of the College could try if enrollment in Senior Week remains low.
Another popular Senior Week alternative is a trip to New York City. Just two hours north of the College, the same distance as Atlantic City, it is full of culture and it never sleeps (like most college students). In addition, the City of Brotherly Love offers a variety of options for seniors to take advantage of in their end of college celebration.
Although it can be pricy, going with many friends will decrease the cost of hotel stays - leaving more cash available for restaurants, clubs, the theater and other activities. Some hotels will even give group discounts. Another and possibly less expensive way to enjoy NYC would be to stay in a hotel in North Jersey and drive or take the train into the city.
Many other seniors are still stuck, disappointed and angry over the cancellation of Senior Week, which many were looking forward to.
For now, it seems that seniors will simply have to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation by getting creative and making their last weeks as a college student as memorable as they can - on their own terms.
