Senior Prank Review
They come with a swift surprise, they get the students talking, and they are often a nuisance to clean up. Senior pranks, when organized well enough, and executed properly, can leave a specific signature that allows the seniors to truly leave their mark in their high school’s history. Senior pranks range all the way from highly destructive and controversial to lame, unorganized, and downright lazy. A truly great senior prank is one that is creative, tasteful, organized, and memorable.
Over the past few years, Hills West seniors have been notorious for their lackluster senior pranks. From honest attempts at good pranks, to halfhearted attempts planned a few days before school ended, Hills West has an absolutely abysmal track record when it comes to pranks. Will this year finally break the cycle, or will it just be another mediocre attempt at hilarity?
A senior prank is essentially making the best goodbye a senior class can. This is supposed to be done in the most disruptive, creative, or memorable way possible. The only thing Hills West seniors are notorious for, are their mediocre senior pranks.
“[I believe] last year’s prank was the best. They asked permission first, and assured us that it would be appropriate and respectful,” said current principal Wayne Ebanks. “I think the idea of a senior prank in which you need to ask permission is pathetic. The spontaneity and unexpectedness is what makes a senior prank such a legendary event,” says Hills West Junior, Steve Reilly. Reilly’s opinion towards this sort of behavior is not unusual, as most want a chaotic production that just screams “so long, farewell” and where a lot of graduating classes want to go out with a bang, many just go out with a lame fizzle.
Let us begin with the class of 2010. This group of seniors apparently thought that using plastic silverware to dot the school’s landscape would be the end-all-be-all of senior pranks: they were perhaps farthest from the truth. “[The prank] was fork-ing stupid,” commented current senior Jake Anton, when asked about the prank. He wasn’t the only person to show disdain towards the silverware. Many current seniors and juniors can still remember the reactions given by their peers. In fact, many of the jokes mocking the prank were much more entertaining than the prank itself.
Fast forward a year and little has changed. The class of 2011 seniors came in early one morning to give the junior hallway some color; with office supplies. Although arguably better than the previous prank, this one still lacked the “buzz” associated with the provocative nature of senior pranks. Most of the post-it notes used to color the lockers fell off by 2nd period. What makes a senior prank so much fun for the seniors, and even for the entire school, is the impression it leaves behind. Most Hills West students can barely even remember the pranks of earlier classes.
Although a lot of humdrum senior pranks were described, let us not forget some of the more traditional of pranks. In June of 2008, faculty noticed that an overwhelming number of students were not in class. They then looked to the football turf and noticed the seniors “hanging out” on the field. ’08 grad Zuha Qazi was quoted in a related article as saying “even though [the prank] didn’t work out, the number of people who actually showed up to participate stands a testament to the grade’s cohesiveness.” Although this didn’t cause any damage to the school, or cause a huge hassle for custodial crew, this sort of coordinated effort is what’s needed for good senior prank to take place. This sort of unified effort will most likely not be performed by the notoriously lackadaisical class of 2012, who would be more likely to obnoxiously chant “Seenyasssss” at the top of their lungs in the hallway and call it a day, than to actually coordinate a senior prank that will be remembered for years to come.
When one searches Senior Pranks on YouTube, videos of students filling their principal’s office to the ceiling with packing peanuts, and the release of rambunctious animals through the halls are some of the videos one will see. So why is it that Hills West seniors continue to miss the mark when it comes to funny and memorable pranks? Class of 2012, it is up to you to make a senior prank that will withstand the test of time; however, when one thinks of the procrastination habits of the current seniors, a good senior prank seems like a distant dream.
