Even though there were more booths at last year’s Farewell Carnival, this year’s still provides a fun break from MVHS’s stressful environment. With free otter pops at the bottom of the E-building steps, an inflatable obstacle course at the edge facing the library and musical chairs in the corner closest to the portables, the Farewell Carnival was far from lacking.

Sophomore Brian Lin first heard of the Farewell Carnival from his the class of 2018’s Facebook page. Though he also participated in the active events such as the inflatable obstacle course, his favorite part of the rally was simply eating the free otter pops, which ran out within 20 minutes into lunch.

Freshman Anvesh Lohiya, on the other hand, made over ten cycles of the inflatable obstacle course — the inflatable that MVHS uses often, with two starting points to allow students to race each other. Lohiya raced with both friends and strangers. Lohiya’s heart raced with exhilaration as his opponent, a stranger, progressed at almost exact same speed as he did. However, he got a thrill each time he reached his favorite part: the climb that lead to slide down to the finish line.

While Lohiya competed one on one, students competed in groups of ten for donuts in musical chairs. Freshman Jennifer Xu recalls a close round with only three people left, one of whom was freshman Jonathan Fung.

“We were both halfway in the chair and he was trying to push me out and he was kind of sitting on me,” Xu said with a laugh. “It was not fun.”

In the end, the moderator called a rematch, and Fung was able to take the seat indisputably before Xu.

Whether they stood and enjoyed otter pops, went head-to-head in obstacle courses or competed for donuts, students found an escape from testing season in the Farewell Carnival.