On June 4, SCHS seniors will be tasked with one more daunting challenge of senior year: making the most of their final high school summer.

Some students have had their plans made for months. Senior Om Kulkarni and his brother are taking a trip to India for the first time in 10 years in order to see their extended family and iconic tourist destinations. Kulkarni believes it will be nice to see the country again before university.

“It’s giving us a sort of ‘going back to your roots’ moment before college,” Kulkarni said. “Then, you know who you are, you know what you want to do. You know where you come from, and it gives you a strong launching point for college.”

While the Kulkarnis are traveling overseas for the summer, senior Nicole Tracy is staying near home. She plans on using her senior summer to embrace the role she has always held within her extended family.

“I go camping with my family every summer, but I feel like this one’s going to be a little bit different,” Tracy said. “Being the youngest in my family, it’s like I’m about to join all my cousins that are either now college kids or even beyond college.”

Social science teacher Gwen Schneider believes that, although the summer after senior year can be a special opportunity to connect with family, there are also chances for parents to make memories with their students in the upcoming fall and beyond. She remembers several fun events from her son’s freshman year of college.

“Once he was in college, then I made sure (to make the most of special activities). I went to Parents’ Weekend. I would go and visit him and fly him back for the holidays so that he was with me,” Schneider said. “Now I don’t get to see him as much, but when I do, I cherish it.”

Family and close friends are not the only aspects of home SCHS students will miss after graduation. Senior Grace Muresan is attending basic training for the United States Air Force Academy, and she intends to embrace the California sun over the summer.

“I’m going to school (college) in Colorado. That place is freezing cold and landlocked, which I do not enjoy. So hopefully, I’ll get some more chances to be at the beach every weekend,” Muresan said.

A relaxing beach day might be just the thing for Kulkarni, who has heard that the summer after senior year is a good time to relax and enjoy the lowered responsibility of childhood.

“They (other college students) specifically said to enjoy (summer) with your friends, chill out and live life before you go to college,” Kulkarni said. “In college, you’ll be in that internship sort of rat race, seizing opportunities and focusing on studies or the future. So they said before that, take a break.”

Some seniors are choosing to take full advantage of their break and go on senior trips, a favorite of many students who want to test out adult independence. Senior Gauri Kannanoor Elavanmadam plans to go to Hawaii with her friends.

“My friends and I are going without family. That’s the first time I’ve done a trip like that, so I’m excited to explore with them and have fun,” Elavanmadam said. “It’s two days after graduation, and it makes me feel really adult to go on a trip without my parents.”

As graduated seniors prepare for the future, the summer can feel more emotional than previous school breaks. Muresan feels the urge to reach out to as many people as possible before graduation and make the most of their final months together.

“I don’t think I could name more than 80 people in my grade of 500, which is not a very high percentage,” Muresan said. “But it’s been really fun to see where everyone’s going to college and to recognize that all these people I’ve known for the last four years – and some of them since sixth grade – are splitting to the winds.”

While graduation is the end of high school, the summer after is seen by many as the end of childhood. For Elavanmadam, her senior summer trip is a comforting conclusion to a longer journey.

“It feels like a celebration for me. I’m not sure if I’m going to get a graduation gift or anything like that, but this feels like that to me,” Elavanmadam said. “Especially since the trip is with the friend group that I’ve been with for all of high school, it feels kind of like our last ‘thing’ together.”