A large group of seniors from the Class of 2026 chose Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for spring break, hoping to spend time together, make memories, and enjoy a fun getaway.
On the trip there were about 30-40 seniors, including myself from Sartell High School and everyone had a great time. However, the trip didn’t go exactly as planned. About a month before the trip, the group had originally planned to travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Then there were some underlying issues within Mexico that we thought might affect the trip. Due to some concerns about safety and problems involving the cartel, the group decided the destination might not be the best choice.
As a result, the seniors chose to rebook their trip to a different location. The Dominican Republic was brought up and everyone agreed it was the better option. Although cost was a factor, everyone was able to make it work, and ultimately enjoyed the experience. 
During the trip, all the seniors had their own little groups within the big group. With that, there were times where we weren’t always together: some did excursions like boat rides, parasailing, fishing, etc. There were also different hotels within the resort. It was about half and half with the group, some at this hotel, some at the other. The hotels were about a 10 minute walking distance, so we got our steps in making trips to each hotel. Despite the distance and different excursions, we still were able to always come together and get to know each other more. This was one of the best parts about the trip, just being friends with everyone and there was no drama.
Each day followed a similar routine, but different. We would wake up, get breakfast and get ready to head down to the pool or beach. Then, we usually used a group chat, to decide which area of the resort everyone wanted to meet at for the day. We spent time together as a group while also having the freedom to do our own things. After swimming and lunch everyone would go back to their rooms to shower and get nicely dressed for dinner. We usually ate dinner at different spots but then came together after to hangout. There were many activities at night for us to do. There was the club, different shows, or events to go to. The nights were my favorite, because we were dressed all pretty and took pictures.
After asking some seniors from the group what their favorite part of the trip was, let’t take a look at their responses.
What was your favorite part of the vacation?
During the vacation, there were some songs that made it memorable. They would always play music at the pools, dancing areas, and hangout spots. The music was the popular Spanish songs, which made it entertaining and super fun.
