The air filled with the sounds of cheers and splashes on Friday, May 2nd, as the Upper School once again marked the end of Senior Week with the traditional lake jump.The school has held the lake jump since the 2006-07 school year. The first splash happened as part of that year’s senior prank; since then, the event has become a memorable Benjamin tradition.
Upper School Dean of Students Mr. Kevin Jacobsen elaborated on how special the lake jump is to our community.
“I think it is really unique to Benjamin because there are not a lot of schools that have a body of water on campus that students can use. It is a very symbolic area of campus and students drive by it for their four years on campus, and then on their very last day, they can swim in it,” Jacobsen said.
Despite the storied tradition of the event, some of this year’s seniors did not jump at the chance to participate, primarily due to concerns over the lake’s cleanliness.
“I didn’t jump into lake because I didn’t want to get a brain eating ameoba from the hot water. I don’t think I missed out because it would have been out of character if I had jumped in,” intoned Chloe McGann.
Despite some concerns, though, many of this year’s 123 seniors chose to take the plunge into the murky waters of Grandiflora Rd., including Dillon Hoban. “Ever since I was a freshman, I have always wanted to do this. It’s so much built-up excitement into one jump into the lake. Although the water was gross, it was for sure worth it,” Hoban noted.
Senior Drew Buchanan also wanted to make the most out of the lake jump.
“I brought a boogie board. It was worth it because it was easy to paddle and I tried to stand up on it. Many others had boogie boards, but I thought mine looked the coolest. It was a great way to end my time here at Benjamin.”
Despite the best of intentions, not everyone’s plans turned out as expected. The lack of precipation lately had water levels in the lake barely rippling above the surface. As such, some students’ inflatable rafts didn’t do much floating.
“My friends and I wanted to get a big floatie and play king of the hill on it, but everyone just wanted to swim. I eventually just grabbed the floatie and swam with it. Although the floatie was a failed mission, I had a lot of fun at the lake jump. I will never forget it,” Schepp emphasized with a smile.
Similarly, senior Seamus Rooney jumped in the lake but took some precautions to protect himself from whathe believes is unsafe water.
“I had a gigantic floatie to protect me from the water. I would have jumped in, but I thought the floatie was the play. It was perfect for the lake jump,” Rooney explained. With parents lining the fences on the southern edge of campus, the lake jump appeared almost metaphorical, as seniors were returned by the Upper School community to the proudly beaming and deeply compassionate arms of their families.
