The Senior Summer, An Overview

The summer before I went to college, I was required to come to campus for an orientation for freshman. At the start of the orientation, they asked us to go around in a circle and name the best part of our summer so far. Without skipping a beat, I touted “Senior Week” which I had experienced with the majority of my grade the week before. After being met with a collective blank stare from the rest of the circle, though, I realized that the other kids at Boston College were unfamiliar with Senior Week, the Senior Summer, and what it all entailed. I knew it was a story I had to share.
If you have lived in the Philadelphia area or at the Jersey shore long enough to know some high school seniors, you’ll be aware that most seniors in this town make arrangements to spend their last high school summer in a group rental home (commonly in Sea Isle, Avalon, or Ocean City) to work, live, and of course, play; independently for the first time. This is called the senior summer, and their home is the senior house.
Last July, I sat down with four seniors who told me that “everything” about living in a senior house was different from living at home. One girl expressed “you’re basically an independent person [for the first time], so you’re cleaning your own bathrooms…doing your own laundry – some [kids] have never done laundry in their lives!” Another boy explained that the differences go far beyond household chores, saying, “There’s always 20 to 30 kids at my house, and it’s always messy and really loud.” Another boy added, “Usually when I get back to the house [after work], everyone has already been drinking all day.”
One boy confessed that the biggest difference he found in living in a senior house was “not having three meals per day,” and that “home is clean, and a senior house is not clean.” He explained that at his house, “I wake up with four dudes sleeping around me. My bedroom is made up of four mattresses, all two inches apart from each other.”
One girl explained that her house is different from other houses because “[my] house is very much a home…I think that [other houses] have a lot more parties. The main difference is that [their houses are] sound proof. Our neighbors to the left are ‘old people,’ and they hate us.” She also lamented that upon entering her house “you get hit with the scent of mold and beer. Empty beer cans everywhere, handles for decoration.” But the most unexpected difference she faced was “trash day! There was never a day in my life where I wondered when the trash went out … [but now] we always forget, and you know what? My mom and dad never forgot … And I never said ‘thank you.’”
As you might imagine, the combined novelty of complete independence paired with shared living spaces causes these kids to get into some pretty sticky situations with their bosses, house guests, fellow housemates, and law enforcement. At the end of the day, though, one girl expressed that the best days could happen anytime, saying “you could have [had my favorite night] outside of senior summer. It was just one of those classic summer nights, and I love that because it was a nice break from all of the partying and all of the chaos … it really made me grateful for everything.” And I think in the end, that sentiment is at the crux of the Senior Summer.
In the coming weeks, I will cover the ways in which these kids navigate their bosses, law enforcement, and each other to make it through the Senior Summer. Two weeks from now will be “partying,” then “jobs and finances,” and finally, “tough stuff.”
Katherine Tague is a rising sophomore at Boston College where she studies communications. She is the middle of four children and spends her summers in Avalon. Katherine is an aspiring journalist, who hopes to incorporate the interviews used for this piece into long-form audio stories.