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Away From Reality Check

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By Leyla Lee

Who would have thought the Class of 2024 could make it to Sneak? Those freezie shifts and hours of JSB workdays actually paid off. So much happened during Sneak that I could write pages, from getting tied together with rope on the beach, to snorkeling and to marriage advice from Papa K (Mr. Kanagaraj). But let’s skip to my most memorable parts.

On our third day at Koh Lanta, we had our service day held at a local primary school, a fifteen-minute tuk-tuk ride from our hotel. The moment we got down from our tuk-tuks, the kids scrambled around us, shouting and waving their hands up high. Their excitement was contagious, but as we were the big, responsible kids, we greeted them from afar and prepared games for them. We were split into eight groups: Musical chairs, origami, football, puzzles, nail painting, Jenga, races, and the animal shelter (outside of the school).

The musical chairs, origami, puzzles, nail painting, and Jenga stations were held under the shade, with the blasting music of Alexia Nyul's (12) amazing music taste at the musical chairs station, while the races and football games were held under the scorching sun that gave everyone an additional sunburn as souvenirs. About an hour later, even with the language barrier, we knew the kids were done with the burning sun, too. So the races group packed up their stuff and turned themselves into a water station, which later turned into a cup pong-dance battle. I would vouch for everyone that we all had great fun. The kids were lovable, joyful, and ever so respectful.

The day ended with lots of hugs from the kids, but they would not let us go and waved goodbye for a straight ten minutes. They didn’t want us to leave. “I grew fond of the kids, and I didn’t want to leave them either,” says Aurelia Bernier (12). We held our hands out as the kids ran up to our tuk-tuks to high-five every single one of the Class of 2024, and we left our hands hanging out the tuk-tuks to remain in touch till the last moment. We waved till we turned the corner and couldn’t see them anymore.

In the end, how could we seniors end a Senior Sneak without a surreal memory stuck to all our minds? And that would be holding our bladders tight while we waited on the bus, queuing in a terrible traffic jam to cross the Thai border. The sponsors knew it was the last straw for some of us. The bus driver opened the bus doors in moving traffic, and one by one, girls on the bus jumped down dauntlessly and ran to a random laundromat bathroom. I’m pretty sure that was the most stressful part of the whole trip for the sponsors, as they nearly lost every one of us girls in Thailand. 

I can truly say that Sneak was probably one of the best things that happened in my senior year so far.

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