A longstanding tradition upheld on August 29, the first day of school, Senior Sunrise began at six a.m. and ended an hour later at seven, giving incoming seniors the opportunity to socialize with each other and become acquainted with the finality of their newfound status.

ASB reportedly planned the event two to three weeks in advance, figuring out the location (near a local hiking trail locally known as “Top of the World”; the trail is officially located within Kerrigan Ranch–a housing community–and is adjacent to Chino Hills State Park), time, and food. They also took to social media, using Twitter graphics to announce the event unofficially and trusting that word-of-mouth (and retweets) would take the news to, hopefully, every senior.

The ASB seniors donated the breakfast foods available at the sunrise, including various kinds of muffins, doughnuts, and juice. Although the morning was foggy and the sun’s ascent masked by clouds and gray skies, in the eyes of ASB, the turnout was good: “There [were] a lot more people than we expected…like eighty people,” said Tianna White (12), a senior class officer and one of the event’s coordinators. The loose start/end times were most likely helpful as well, enabling students to come and leave whenever they wanted to.

When asked if she would recommend maintaining the tradition for next year’s seniors, Tianna nodded, saying, “I think it’s good to have an event…to kick off the school year.” The “official” senior activities like Grad Night and Senior Breakfast do not occur until the end of the year, so one of the motivations behind having Senior Sunrise was probably to enable the newly minted seniors to socialize and gear up for the long school year ahead. Topics of conversation included college, summer homework, and teachers; friends reunited and stories were shared over the common bond of food; and the constant flow of people mimicked the comings-and-goings that would be shared in the future.

In a sense, Senior Sunrise can be considered the dawn of a new age: the beginning of the final year of childhood, the last year of an era, and the jumping board for the future. It’s the first last chance to be a kid, and air already feels thick with nostalgia and morning dew. Kids with cars and drivers’ licenses and college on the mind quickly turn into kids who drive into adulthood, and from that point on, the stillness of childhood and adolescence will be shaken forever.

It’s the end. Let’s not forget.