This year, RMA’s seniors added a bit more fun to the final months of high school. Starting on March 31, seniors used water guns and pool floaties to play a game called Senior Assassin. (This game has been popular since roughly the 2010s; you might know it from television shows such as iCarly and Gossip Girl.) This was the first time that RMA had ever played, with it being a collective idea among the seniors to participate.
Each senior paid a fee of $10 to participate, and this money contributed to the overall prize of roughly $300! The game itself was set up by Seth Tickel through an app called Splashin, which describes itself as an app for “water elimination tournaments.” Through a generator, each senior was randomly assigned “a target” (another senior) that they had to eliminate from the game by shooting them with a water gun. Some seniors used tiny, transparent water pistols, while others used large, battery-powered blasters. Once a person got their target out, they then had to “get out” of their former target’s target. The last man or woman standing would get the grand prize.
This game relied on many rules, but that did not hinder the students’ fun–instead, it made the game more challenging! Most importantly, eliminations were not allowed anywhere on campus. This included games/matches and bus rides on the way to the games. However, if someone was, say, riding home with friends after a game, that was okay because they had left campus. In addition to that, the seniors were also allowed to eliminate one another at long lunch once they were off campus, so everyone had to be on their guard!
Probably the most amusing part of the game was that seniors were allowed a “safe item” (any kind of flotation device or pair of goggles that is clearly visible) that, if they were wearing it, would protect them from elimination. This means a few RMA students were spotted around town wearing pool floaties like toddlers! The seniors also knew they were safe during overnight hours because no one was allowed to assassinate anyone after 9:30 pm or before 7 am unless the parents of said person knew beforehand. In addition to these time restrictions, some places and events were off-limits, such as the prom and church. Finally, when eliminating someone, the elimination had to be recorded as proof.
The very same day the game started, we gained our first casualty as Katie Bulluck eliminated the first senior: Wyatt Wells. He and Thomas Honey went to Katie’s house so Thomas could take Katie out of the game, but things went south pretty quickly, and Wyatt went from bystander to victim when Katie shot him with her water gun.
The second round included even more drama: Since the game was set up through Seth Tickel’s phone, this raised some suspicion, as a few students thought he could cheat because the appwould show him, as the creator or the account, who everyone’s target was and where they were at any given time. Ultimately, Seth told his “assassin” his location, offering himself up and getting eliminated in the second round to make sure students had a level playing field.
As for the purge rounds (near the end of the game), Terrence Pittman was eliminated by Gage Varnell, who also, just seconds before, eliminated James Thomas. Despite not winning, Terrence said, “Senior Assassin was a fun-filled game with plenty of spontaneity. It definitely had us checking over our shoulders all the time.”
Even though I’m a junior, I did partake in Senior Assassin in a way. As I accompanied Christopher Harper to TJ Maxx one afternoon, we were met by Isabella Daza running towards us with the intention of getting Christopher out. As she was sprinting towards us, I told Christopher to run, which led to a chase in the men’s section of the store. This was followed by the two seniors darting out into the parking lot, running in circles as Isabella tried to shoot at Christopher, ultimately eliminating him. He likes to argue that it was my fault that I did not tackle Isabella as she was running towards us, but I have to point out that the whole thing could have been avoided if he had been willing to wear his floatie in public.
Now, what everyone has been waiting for: who won the money? Unfortunately, our 2025 seniors did not finish out the game, as everyone gave up towards the end because people were forming alliances that prevented them from eliminating their friends, so it was called a draw. With this forfeit, five seniors were left in the game: Katie Bulluck, Thomas Honey, Hank Berry, Carter Ingram, and Cameron “Chop” Dawkins. As the prize of $300 was designated for one senior in hopes of completing the game, the winners split the money, with each person getting roughly $60.
Although this year’s game didn’t end the way seniors thought it would, they say that they hope they’ve started a new tradition at RMA–something they can leave behind to make those final months of high school even more memorable.
