Following a Friday morning performance at the Eisemann Center, orchestra drove down south to Austin and South Padre Island for their annual spring trip, arriving back Monday afternoon.

“We always do some kind of performance, where we play, whether it’s for a fair competition, or some other event.” senior Yael Ben David said. “You learn two or three new pieces, and you don’t have a lot of time to learn them. That’s fun, where you just have to figure it out with your friends, and whether it turns out whether it’s good or bad, you have fun doing it.”

That feeling extended into Friday afternoon as orchestra students faced each other in an unconventional game of soccer playing in giant bubbles, at Bubble Battles in Austin.

“The bubble battles were very fun,” junior Tiffany Truong said. “We in a bubble backpack that went around our whole body. I was wearing heels and I scored two goals, but I definitely fell and ruined my knee.”

From there, students ate and danced at The Oasis on Lake Travis on Friday night before hitting the road to South Padre the next day.

“We’ve done this the last two years where we go to the Oasis,” Ben David said. “There’s like a live band and a buffet, and it’s always a lot of fun to dance with your friends and dance with the other people. It’s a great experience to bond with your friends and just hang out with them.”

Sunday morning began with a breakfast competition with students creating dishes judged by the directors and former assistant director Chase Fickling who helped chaperone the trip.

“Some teams did a crepe, a lot of them did different versions of pancakes,” assistant director Victoria Lien said. “Others rooms made their own like jams, cream and marscapone. Some people went for more savory things like a bacon-egg sandwich. It was great eating all the good food.”

After a couple hours of storms in the morning, students spent the rest of the day shopping for souvenirs and relaxing on the beach.

“My favorite part of the trip is seeing different groups of people get together and play on the beach, whether that be digging large holes to sit in, or volleyball or frisbee, so it was fun to see the interaction,” Lien said. “I also like just sitting and talking to all the students.”

For junior Christine Le, being around her peers was the most enjoyable part of the experience.

“I think my favorite part of the trip was hanging out with all my friends that I might not see you next year because they’re graduating and being on the bus for like 11 hours next my, my closest friends it’s really good,” Le said. “It’s good building a community between the orchestra especially if, like these freshmen just come to the trip. It’s fine like seeing them have fun, especially like outside of orchestra.

As the largest class with 55 students in the program, seniors closed their final spring trip with ice cream sundaes made by the directors.

“In my first two years, I wasn’t able to go on the trips, so this was really meaningful for me, because it’s probably the last time I’m going to see my friends in a long time after I move,” Ben David said. “It was just a really fun experience and good bonding experience to be with my two orchestra teachers who have helped me and cared for me the last four years and also with my friends who’ve been with me and orchestra.”