The Reality of Senior Year

What I Expected

As I was leaving the senior breakfast and driving in our caravan to school, I expected this year to be similar to others, with perks, of course.  I expected weekend bonfires, lunch off-campus with friends, growing to love my classmates, and cherishing all of the “lasts.”  I also expected to coast through senior year and roll through the finish line.  I just knew this would be the easiest school year of my life.

What Actually Happened

Yes, I did get a weekend bonfire and I did have lunch with my best friends.  I talked to people I never had talked to before and learned more about my peers.

However, I also had college applications, essays, homework, and after school activities that seemed to come at me from all directions.  As a senior, I was being stretched thin.  I made about 500 to-do lists, filled my planner and tattooed my hands in reminders.  It seemed like every college needed a different document or form.  How could I remember all of this?!  Some things got done, and some didn’t.  I had to start picking and choosing what I had time for.  A lot of the time, it meant I had to miss out on a basketball game or a sleepover.  I felt like maybe I was doing something wrong, but this was just the reality.

With senior year came lots of lasts: the last first day of school, the last football game, the last theater performance.  The list goes on and on.  It wasn’t until November of my senior year that it hit me- this is it!  This is the last time my life will be easy and predictable.  This is the last time to be (mostly) carefree and the last time to make “childhood” memories.  Right then I decided to soak it all in.  Everything that once annoyed me became a sweet moment that I became overly sentimental about.  “Y’all, this is the last time we’ll have a ‘White Out’ at a basketball game!!” (Okay, Emily, calm down.)  Looking back, taking in every event was the best decision.

Words of Advice to a Senior

This year is going to be the most happy, sad, eventful, and stressful year of your life.  You have to apply to colleges, eventually pick one, build up your resume, and participate in extra-curriculars as you maintain a solid GPA.  While all of this sounds unpleasant, enjoy the little things!  Be happy that you have to wait on your younger sibling to finish a test after school- it’s the last time you will.  Have fun with your classmates, and do stuff you wouldn’t normally do in front of them (after all, you probably won’t see most of them again)!  Just take this year slow.  Prom, graduation, and senior trips will be here before you know it, so appreciate all of the days leading up to those fun events.

This is the end of the beginning of your life.

 

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