The fear of not being able to return home is what I understand now. This is every parent's and child's fear. Imagine being told, "If you don't arrive on time, we will leave you behind" and your parent tells you they will not come to pick you up and that this is a test to see how well you do on your own.

So let me start at the beginning, on October 24, 2015 at 9:30 am, I boarded a bus filled with seniors headed to our destination. We were very excited to start our journey. Once the bus arrived at 12:25 pm, we picked up our passes and were told to head to the Pavilion at 5:00 pm for dinner, go to the fright fest at 7:00 pm, and be back at the bus at 8:45 pm. This was my first senior activity away from home without an actual chaperone walking around with me. My friends and I had lots of fun, went on all the rides we could go on and had snacks. At 5:00 pm, we headed to the Pavilion for dinner and at 7:00 pm, we went towards the haunted house for the fright fest. At first, it seemed funny, but later on as the rooms became more darker and gruesome, it became more scary. The so called monsters were popping out at us with sharp chainsaws and chasing us around.  At this time, it seemed like we were on track, we were managing our time accordingly. Once out of the haunted house, we went on a few more rides; by this time, it was getting dark. Since we had just came out of the haunted house, our imagination was running high. A new place, dark with lots of strangers walking around with flash lights was no help for my friends and I.

 Now it was time to head back to the front towards the bus. But where was the front of the park and who could my friends and I ask for help? Now was the time to panic because everyone we asked for help, pointed in different directions. We had a map with us, but it was of no use, since we couldn't figure out in the dark which way we were headed. As time was running out, we were getting more desperate to find our way out, however giving up was not an option. There were less and less seniors at the place because almost everyone else was at the bus waiting for us. This is where we met a park employee who was willing to walk us to the front, but could we trust him? The time was now 8:44 pm, the entrance was nowhere in sight and neither was the bus. All I could remember was my mom telling me, "If you get left behind, I will not drive in the middle of night to come pick you up." I knew at this time that between my friend and I, one of us had to stay calm; seeing the fear in my friend's eyes, I knew that I had to stay calm. It seemed like we were running for hours in this maze. However, finally, the entrance of the park was in sight. When we got to the bus, it was past 8:45 pm, we could breathe now. Once inside the bus, my friends and I sat down and took a deep breath. During the ride back to our school, almost everyone was quiet, we were all reflecting back on our day at the maze called Great America. I still felt the effects of the day. The ride back home seemed long. At about 11:30 pm, we arrived at our school where my mom and sister were anxiously waiting for me. I made it back, but the fear of almost not making it back remains with me. The following Monday, as my friends and I sat at lunch, we started discussing our trip and this is when we all realized that no matter how much we grow up, we still need our parents.