by Blake Seitz

Sports Editor

Among the many perks of being a senior is exemption from final exams and—in certain circumstances—midterms. And while the majority of seniors use their free time to sleep in or catch up on the latest episodes of Jersey Shore, others have gotten creative.

Senior Shelby Crow spent the early days of her week doing the usual thing, but her and her friends quickly tired of the routine.

“We were all talking about how we wanted to get out of Coppell, just because we could,” Crow said.

Eventually, they decided to visit Lake Texoma—a favorite haunt of their church youth group—for a one-night camping trip.

“We’re just going to be hanging out and stuff,” Crow said. “We’ll make a campfire, have s’mores and play sports like tetherball and soccer.”

Others are staying more local during their break.

Senior Kevin Rutledge, like Crow, spent a good deal of his break unwinding.

“I’ve been sleeping and playing a lot of golf for free,” Rutledge, who works as a cart driver at Las Colinas Country Club, said.

Starting today, however, Rutledge will be spending three days at Winter Weekend, a spiritual event sponsored by Valley Ranch Baptist Church.

“Each grade of our youth group hangs out at somebody’s house,” Rutledge said. “We go to sessions at the church and also go to the ice rink to play broomball. It’s a lot of fun—sleep will be at a minimum.”

And because Rutledge is a senior, he will get to enjoy the perks of his class.

“We’ll be able to drive everywhere because we’ll have our cars, and the sponsors will be more lenient with us,” Rutledge said.

While most of the senior class is using its free time for relaxation, there are an unlucky few who don’t have that luxury.

In late 2009, senior Susan Wentworth contracted strep throat. She missed five days of school and became ineligible for exemptions as a result.

While many of her friends slept in and stayed out late, Wentworth woke up early to grind out her school days and stayed up nights with study groups.

Because exam days are half days, however, the week wasn’t a total waste.

“The half days have been pretty chill,” Wentworth said. “I haven’t had homework, and the finals weren’t bad anyway because I do well in all my classes.”

Nevertheless, she can’t help but feel a twinge of regret about how things could’ve been.

“If I were to replay things, I might’ve gone to school sick,” Wentworth said. “It stinks when all your friends are having fun and you have to stay in to study.”