Senior assassin: a staple among graduating classes at many high schools across the United States. A group of 54 Sixth Formers signed up to partake in the game’s Haverford School 2022 edition, which commenced the last week of April.
Students are assigned a target that they must “kill” by squirting them with a toy water gun. To eliminate their target, a student must shoot him while he is not touching his safety item. Safety items change from round to round. Ranging from framed portraits of Upper School Dean of Students Mr. Luqman Kolade, a 15-pound dumbbell, a baguette no shorter than six inches with a single bite taken out of it, and two twelve-packs of Coca-Cola, students can be seen attached to their safety items throughout Wilson Hall.
Sixth Former Colin Stewart and Fifth Former Colin Kelly took on the challenge of organizing the game.
“I thought it would be fun to be the center of controversy if something happened,” Stewart said. “But, I also enjoyed making the rules, making the game difficult, and making the safety item a fun thing while making it challenging for everyone.”
“Originally, I signed up to be the person that decided everybody’s targets,” Kelly said. “Colin Stewart organized the event, but he was also in the game, so he could not be the one deciding everyone’s targets.”
Kelly formatted the game to make it more personable and exciting for everyone involved.
“I assigned targets so that people would get other people who were their friends, so this often resulted in best friends getting each other.”
Colin Kelly ’23
“I assigned targets so that people would get other people who were their friends, so this often resulted in best friends getting each other,” Kelly said.
The first round was filled with many exciting eliminations filled with strategic planning.
“I told my target, who just so happened to be one of my close friends, that he left some clothes at my house,” Sixth Former Nick Pante said. “I drove over to his house to drop off the clothes, and when he came outside without his item, I immediately ran out of the car and shot him.”
Stewart had a similar encounter.
“I was out with my friends a few weeks ago, and my target, Aidan Boyle, happened to be there. I had my safety item with me, but my water gun was in the car, so I had to run out to get my water gun and then I got Aidan Boyle out,” Stewart said.
While many students enjoyed that the targets were fixed so that people were paired with their friends, others were not fond of this tweak.
“I didn’t think the rules for the first round were laid out that well. I heard the targets were not randomized, which I didn’t like,” Sixth Former Sam Tryon said.
Tryon is not the only Sixth Former who was unhappy with the game setup.
“A lot of seniors come up to me, unhappy with the rules or how things turned out, or just people complaining about the game and being frustrated, but I don’t get offended,” Kelly said.
Tryon eventually got out of the game because of the 5-7 day time frame to eliminate one’s target.
“I was pressed for time and lost motivation pretty quickly. Nobody got me out, and I didn’t get anybody else out; I just got eliminated because I didn’t get my target out before the deadline.”
Sam Tryon ’22
“I was pressed for time and lost motivation pretty quickly. Nobody got me out, and I didn’t get anybody else out; I just got eliminated because I didn’t get my target out before the deadline,” Tryon said.
At this point in the game, only a few students remain. All of the remaining students are fully committed to the game.
“I’ve spent too much time on this game, so my attitude is winning or just not playing,” Sixth Former John Zhang said. “People have helped me kill other people in the game, so I feel like I’m obligated to continue to hold these dumb items and win the entire game.”
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