For many, senior year is something they’ve been waiting for since what seems like the dawn of time. From the age of 6, school has been a (for some welcome and for some less so) constant in our lives that we’ve built our life around; friendships, hobbies, and interests included.
Now that the terror of junior year and all its SAT Prep, AP studying, juggling clubs, honor societies, jobs, and extracurriculars is over, now is the time to take a deep breath and reflect.
What does this year look like?
Or more importantly, what do you want it to look like?
For many, academic rigor and striving for academic excellence doesn’t stop senior year. Even so, especially for those accepted into college; getting one subpar grade doesn’t have to feel like the end of the world.
For some, it’s a comfort that it “doesn’t matter” and for others it’s irrelevant since they are exclusively self motivated, but no matter the reasoning: now is the time to chill out.
Additionally, senior year is a time when self-actualization starts. With the threat of adulthood looming near, there’s a pressure to beat it there, and be completely put together before the clock strikes midnight on your 18th birthday.
But you won’t be. Nobody is, and nobody has to be. Maturity is a slow accumulation of experiences, failures, and the gradual realization that nobody really knows what they’re doing; everyone is living life for the first time.
For this very reason, embrace every part of it. Embrace the bad parts: that essay you spent an hour crying over because you realized you wrote the entire first two pages wrong, the fight you got in with your friend over picking the same prom dress color, googling how to write an MLA heading for the millionth time since ninth grade.
Don’t rush adulthood. Ditch getting a head start on your homework and go hang out with your friends. Laugh at the stupid jokes. Spend money on those concert tickets. Don’t waste your time fearing embarrassment, and judgment, and the way others perceive you.
And most of all, have a great senior year.
