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"Targets and Teammates: Class of 2026 Plays its Final Game" by Zach Ooi

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 Christal Teoh (12) disrupted a peaceful Sunday night when she announced that Senior Assassin would officially begin the next morning. Within minutes, the entire class logged onto the Senior Assassin app. While most players stayed discreet in the chatbox, Abraham Miller (12) posted a victory emoji, like a warrior celebrating before the battle began. Within twelve hours, Anna Chand had eliminated him: the game’s first casualty, and its first lesson in humility.


Senior Assassin, an unofficial tradition that ripples through graduating classes across American High Schools, arrived at Dalat on Monday, May 18, when Christal Teoh (12) of the Senior Class ExCom launched the game, with 43 Class of 2026 students enrolled. “ExCom decided to run Senior Assassin because it was a fun way to end our high school days and also a tradition that previous grades have done.” Christal Teoh (12) said. Each player draws a single target; an elimination requires water splashed on the target, verified by a video uploaded to the app. No assassinations during class time. Players holding swimming gear — towels, floaties, goggles — stay immune until the items come off, though snatching them is fair play. Alliances are allowed, but so is betrayal. 


Abraham Miller (12) never saw it coming. At 8 am, he walked casually toward school along the Cove, imagining his victory. Anna had parked beside the path, waiting in the passenger seat with the door open. “My motivation to wake up this early to assassinate Abraham was to win the game before I get betrayed by Abe Johnson (12), so I took my chance and assassinated him” Anna Chand (12). As Abraham strolled past, she struck. The self-proclaimed “warrior” was eliminated before the school day even began. 


My own attempt came at 3 p.m. Walking down the fountain staircase of the Harbor building, I spotted Jane relaxing with friends at a picnic table, guarded by the goggles and a towel. I recruited two of her closest friends, Jon Davis Guffy and Alice Wang — the last people she expected to betray her. Alice asked to borrow the towel, and Jane handed it over; JD yanked the goggles into the air, waiting for my shot. But I hesitated, unsure whether goggles half-off her head counted, and the moment passed. Afterward, Jane kept her distance like it was COVID-19 again, clutching her gear whenever I approached. 


Senior year is senior assassin. The game taught us the hit comes from where you’re not looking. Senior year works the same way — you focus on everything else, college decisions and summer plans — and then all of a sudden it’s one week away. At the end of the day, everyone’s still walking somewhere. Abraham walks to class, Matthias to his car… and soon all of us will be walking off to different places entirely. But for now, let’s just thank the staff, teachers, leadership team, and our classmates for making the Class of 2026 truly amazing, and let’s celebrate the Class of 2026 students closing a chapter in the book of life. 

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