(November 23, 2004) -- Senior Ciba Mohamed tightly clenched the brakes on her bike in an attempt to save herself from hitting the bike in front of her. She swerved and fell on her side, scraping and bruising her arm. Mohamed, along with several other seniors, who attended the third annual senior Catalina trip on Saturday, injured themselves on their bike ride through the island. But that didn’t stop the seniors from having an “awesome” time, according to Mohamed.

The day started with the bus ride to Long Beach, where the 42 seniors and three staff members—Assistant principal Joan Shoff and teachers Melissa O’Gara and Susan Howe—were to board a boat. After the one-hour boat ride students reached Catalina where they were greeted by the Catalina Travel Connection employees who offered the seniors Krispy Kreme donuts and leis.

Each student was given a voucher to either miniature golf or rent a bike—most chose to bike. The planned city tour, however, was cancelled because the timing clashed with the submarine ride.

While they had most of the day to spend time with their fellow classmates doing whatever they pleased, the seniors reassembled at Steve’s Steakhouse for lunch. The price of the lunch was included in the $80 ticket.

After lunch, the group headed for the submarine ride. “That was a bad mistake,” commented senior Illya Williams. “We were all nauseous because we had just eaten.”

After a few more hours of biking, playing golf and walking around the island, the seniors were forced to bid the island goodbye.

While they said their goodbyes to the island, they didn’t say goodbye to having fun. On the bus ride home, the seniors engaged in a song battle between boys and girls, initially, and later between the front of the bus and the back of the bus.

“The bus ride home ended the perfect day just perfectly,” said senior Patricia Ocampo