Written by Ellie Hultgren and Katherine Welander
Cover photo by Ellie Hultgren
On Wednesday morning, M-A seniors gathered on the football field at 6:15 am for Leadership’s annual senior sunrise. The event is an important tradition to M-A seniors, and even during distance learning last year, Leadership found ways to safely host it in-person. Seniors bundled up to mingle and watch as the sun came up. At 7:00 am they headed to the PAC cafe for breakfast which included bagels, waffles, fruit, cold brew, orange juice, and more.
Senior and Leadership student Emily Nieva helped plan the event, and she said their goal was “to get as many seniors as we could, but also to expand from just the seniors that are friends of Leadership students to get other groups of kids that we wouldn’t normally talk to. We want to challenge ourselves to see how we can better our PR, and how we reach out to other students.” She added, “There’s more than just the seniors sitting on the Green that we can get out to.”
Senior Memo Portugal spoke about the sentimental value behind the event, saying, “I love these events because the seniors only have a few months left, so it’s nice to spend time together.” He continued, “Obviously, the sunrise was great. I showed up a little late, but it was still really beautiful.”
“I think my favorite part was just chilling on the grass and listening to Bob Marley in the background, and just watching the sun rise,” said senior Lute Finau. “It was just really nice. The vibe was just an early morning sunrise. Today’s going to be a great day.”
Senior and fellow Leadership student Corinne Dekshenieks said, “All the students who put it together did a really great job at organizing and advertising, so we had a really good turnout.”
Nieva said, “I have just been busy in general after school with my friends, so having that dedicated time when they showed up in the morning and having that quality time when everyone’s kind of tired, a little miserable, and going through that together was really fun.”
“At one point someone was reciting poetry, so that was a lot of fun,” Nieva added. “I think just looking at where we stand as a program, and seeing how much fun people were having, I count the event as a success. Sometimes it’s not about how many people show up, but the quality of the event for the people that did show up.”
