Seniors, Grace Miller and Trey Ulses were partners for this year’s annual Senior Survivor.
To participate in Senior Survivor, teams must raise as much money for their charity as possible. This year 10 teams tried to raise enough money to get in, and 6 teams were accepted, Grace and Trey being one of them.
All of the team did a lot of different things to raise money, a lot of them sell some sort of food to students.
Trey said, “I liked selling our baked goods at the basketball games that was bueno.”
Throughout the week the teams participated in challenges, ranging from Just Dance to jumping in the pool, to win points, as well as protecting their flag (when it is stolen you lose points). Participants are required to stay at the high school for the entire week from Monday at 4 o’clock to Friday 4 o’clock and eat rations or military meals.
They came in 6th raising $2,755.87 for their charity, Safe Families for Children. Safe Families for Children has chapters all over the US dedicated to helping children have safe homes.
On their website, they state their mission to be, “Safe Families for Children seeks to bring the church and community together to keep children safe and families together. Safe Families for Children is rooted in faith, fueled by radical hospitality, disruptive generosity, and intentional compassion, to build a network of caring and compassionate volunteers to support families facing social isolation. Our goal is to support and strengthen families, prevent child abuse and neglect, and reduce the number of children unnecessarily entering the child welfare system.”
Grace said, “We picked Safe Families for Children because I know several people that help volunteer with it.”
Grace and Trey have a relaxed dynamic and have known each other for a while.
Trey said, “I knew we both wanted to do it and so I just asked if she wanted to do it and she said ‘yeah’.”
When hearing about Senior Survivors for the first time, it does not seem that fun.
When asked why he wanted to do it, Trey said, “Last year when I would watch the challenges I thought it looked really fun, so I wanted to do it.”
Throughout the week the teams are put through the wringer with tough challenges, and being sleep/food deprived. It may be hard to stay happy with each other at all times.
Grace said, “Whenever we’d get annoyed we’d get like quiet but it was always fine.”
Overall, it is a tough week, that is really challenging and causes you to deal with things you have never had to deal with before. This allows you a glimpse into the lives of many people around the world, and who you are raising money for.
Grace said, “I think overall it was a great experience, even though it had its ups and downs. It was a good way to get involved in the community and high school. It really put into perspective how some people live their lives day to day.”
