The Class of 2025 began their senior year diving into memories at “Grad Splash” at Rapids Water park, and fittingly they closed it out together at Universal’s Grad Bash on Friday, April 25th. What started with waterslides and bonding finished with roller coasters and one last adventure before graduation.
This year 58 seniors gathered and boarded two charter buses at 3:15 p.m, and set off to Orlando. They made a stop at turnpike rest stop for food before arriving at Universal. From 7:00 p.m to 2:00 a.m, seniors from across the state had the parks to themselves. Students had the chance to enjoy rides with their friends, explore the gift shops, and buy unique merchandise for the Class of 2025. At around 2:30 a.m, everyone made their way back to the buses, returning to campus at around 5:30 a.m.
The night gave students a chance to experience Universal in a whole new way. “My favorite part of Grad Bash was having the chance to spend time with my friends and also getting to be at Universal so late at night. Whenever I go with my family or friends, the parks always close by 9 p.m., so it was really cool to be there past the usual hours,” Senior Elinor Samarias expressed.
Samarias also highlighted the Velociocoaster as her favorite ride: “It was super fast and gave me such an adrenaline rush. We were laughing and screaming the whole time, so it was really fun to be next to a good friend.”
Beyond the thrill of the rides, Senior GianCarlo DiLeo loved the opportunity to spend time with his friends. “Two of the people I was going around with, Ava [Crawford] and Mikayla [Scotto] were really scared of roller coasters so it was fun to push them to go on the rides. I also really enjoyed the conversations I had with people after the event. It was really fun to connect, trade stories and just have good conversations about our experiences,” DiLeo explained.
Senior Emily Simon agrees with DiLeo, and feels that Grad Bash was the perfect way to bring her grade together one last time. “Grad Bash was a great way for our class to all hang out and just spend time together with no stress. We have all worked really hard with college applications so it was great to have an experience where we could just be together,” Simon shared.
Teachers too found Grad Bash to be a great way to get connected and build community. Upper School substitute teacher, Ms. Marina Gasparini, has attended the event multiple times, and loves getting to see the students enjoy themselves outside of the classroom setting. “I like to be a part of all the senior events so I go to Homecoming, Prom, and Grad Bash every year. This year was my last Grad Bash so I am definitely going to miss the energy of the event. Every year it feels like a little adventure. We all go on the bus together to go to Grad Bash, and then all of the kids have a great time. I love all of the little things about it: being in that environment and spending time with teachers and students,” Gasparini shared.
Upper School Economics teacher Mr. Graham Wik, who attended Grad Bash for the first time, also enjoyed the event and especially liked getting to spend time with his colleagues. “Grad Bash was great. Mr. Curivan definitely knew his way around the park so I had a great time going around with him and the rides were fun,” Wik said.
Grad Bash offered the Class of 2025 one last chance to come together: a way to close out their high school experience and look ahead to Seniors have epic night at Grad Bash 2025 the future.
