As newly freed second-semester seniors, we decided to embark on a series of adventures to see how many fun activities we could try in a week — the kind we haven’t had time to do in our first 3.5 years of high school. We ranked them based on the total cost of each activity, entertainment level and overall quality of bonding.
Solving the 1,500-piece jigsaw puzzle
On day one, we invited three friends over to help us complete a 1,500-piece puzzle of a sky filled with hot air balloons of various designs. In two hours, we completed the frame of the puzzle, putting together edge pieces. Two days later, we invited six more people over and completed another solid 2 percent of the puzzle in an hour. It was fun to struggle and challenge our minds with close friends, but after a while, we were just too fatigued to continue.
But we didn’t give up. Over the course of a week, we recruited three friends to come over for about two hours a day. Four puzzle sessions later, we finished the epic puzzle — two weeks after we started.
Conclusion: 4/5 Falcons. At times, the experience of solving such a challenging puzzle proved frustrating and left our backs aching, but overall, it was a surprisingly fun bonding experience. Our bottom-line advice: Start with a more doable puzzle, with maybe 500 pieces instead of 1,500.
Game night get-together
On a Friday night, we invited 10 of our friends over to Francesca’s house to play wholesome versions of truth or drink and fear pong, carrying out dares written under the cups. Don’t worry, no alcoholic beverages were consumed. Truth or drink brought us closer together, as intimate details were revealed and much tea was spilled.
Fear pong resulted in toilet selfies, fake relationship status updates, a chastity belt made of duct tape and a seductive dramatic reading of “The Practice of Statistics.” Overall, the game night was a success. It was a refreshing change from our usual hangouts and a great bonding experience, and we plan to continue to host more game nights as the semester unfolds.
Conclusion: 5/5 Falcons. Strongly recommended. Stay safe, kids.
Achieving that new look you’ve always been “dye-ing” to try
On Saturday, we bought box dye from CVS and headed over to Francesca’s house to dye our hair. Amy wanted to go for caramel highlights, and Francesca decided to be a little more adventurous and get teal dye (but not too adventurous because it was semi-permanent dye). The dyeing process took about an hour.
Unfortunately, Amy’s attempt at lightening did not work well because her hair is too dark, and neither of us were willing to bleach our hair — the prerequisite to having hair that fully transforms in color. The ends of Francesca’s hair, however, did turn slightly teal after two rounds of dye, and did not wash out until about two weeks later. For Francesca, this experience was fun because she got to try out a different look and ended up really liking having teal hair.
Conclusion: 3/5 Falcons. It’s fun to change up your look if you have lighter hair to start with. But if you have really dark hair, the dye won’t show much unless you bleach your hair first.
Getting that steal you’ve never had time to find
On a recent Sunday, we headed to Goodwill to cop some steals and create outfits for under $20. Walking in, we were met with the classic smell of old lady perfume as we begun our search for cheap but cute clothes. After about 30 minutes of walking around, we both had our outfits picked out. Amy’s outfit, which consisted of a red cropped quarter zip ($8), a black denim skirt ($4), and red sunglasses ($4), cost $16. Francesca’s outfit, which consisted of a white blouse ($3), patterned shorts ($5), and leopard print sunglasses ($4), only cost $12.
Conclusion: 4/5 Falcons. Recommended for all those ballin’ on a budget. It takes some digging to find cool pieces, but your new favorite item is out there, and it’ll be less than $10.
Finding your groove in a dance workshop
On a Monday night, we traveled to San Jose to take an urban hip hop class at On One Studios. Since both of us have been dancing since we were young, we were excited to challenge ourselves by taking a class in groovy urban hip hop, a genre we had little experience with.
The energy in the room was amazing, and we could tell that everyone was there because they loved to dance and genuinely wanted to learn. It was also such a diverse group of people of all ages, genders and levels of experience. Some of the moves were definitely out of our comfort zone, but it was fun to challenge ourselves.
Though the Monday Night Workshop was difficult, we plan to try more workshops and classes. Even non-dancers can find their perfect class at this studio, as the San Jose based dance studio offers Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced classes. Monday Night Workshops cost $25 a person and a standard class costs $15.
Conclusion: 4.5/5 Falcons. Highly recommended, and a great form of exercise.