The clock strikes 7:20 a.m. and the morning bell sounds for the very first period of your senior year. As if on cue, you pull up to main lot with your speakers blaring some song off Young Thug’s latest album. You take your time strolling into class five minutes after the bell rings, Dunks’ iced coffee in hand. It’s the first semester of senior year and you’re feeling like top dog.
Dreams of no midterms or homework dance through your head as you make your way through the hallways, greeting friends with a cool-looking head nod and simple, one-worded “sup”.
After an epic summer filled with working, finishing summer homework, or perhaps making poor decisions, the horrors of August and the beginning of the school year have rolled around for your last time at LHS.
The legends of seniors past have built up expectations for the new rulers of the school, but to your dismay senior year isn’t at all what it was made out to be.
The reality is, senior year is just as bland as the rest of the years. Except now, every decision made about your future could literally change your whole life.
The first few weeks are great. The freshmen are scared of you, the sophomores look up to you, and your Friday nights are reserved for watching Lancer football.
Mack Plaque looks optimistic, homecoming is a hit, and so far your senior year is off to an exciting start.
The eventful, stress free fall comes to a halt, however, when your teachers inform you that first quarter ends in a week. The tests and projects come flooding in, the teachers get picky about work, and you are just doing anything you can to not have to take the midterm.
Inevitably, though, there is one stubborn teacher who doesn’t want to round your 89.7 in the class to an A, and you unwillingly have to accept that you will be taking at least one midterm your senior year.
Next come the heartbreaking goodbyes.
Athletes wrap up their senior seasons, but not all of us are lucky enough to win a state championship (congratulations Lancer football and Unified Soccer). Whether your team went undefeated or suffered a tough first round loss in the playoffs, saying goodbye to the people you spent hours each day with is always heart wrenching.
The final buzzer sounds, your heart drops, and the tears start flowing. You will never wear a Lancer uniform again. For some of us, we will never play a sport again.
After dedicating all your time towards the game you love, you have officially become washed up.
And then there are the clubs: Band, Class Representatives, Drama club, Heal the World, ect.. However you decided to get involved throughout your high school years, you created bonds and friendships you will never forget.
The day is fast approaching where each extracurricular will hold its last meeting, practice, debate, or event leaving students with nothing but countless happy memories.
Then there are the not so heartbreaking goodbyes. The inevitable drama that comes with sticking a bunch of hormonal teenagers in one place every day seems to kick into full gear senior year.
“So and so got the same color prom dress as her,” or “so and so didn’t even sit near me at the basketball game.” It’s all petty drama, but it happens nonetheless. And while some of us decide to build a bridge and get over it, others decide to burn that bridge altogether.
In the midst of coping with ending sports seasons and petty high school drama, there’s the application process. We pay schools just to give us the time of their day to read an application we barely even wanted to submit in the first place. Our parents ask us every day about whether we finished or not, and after dodging their nagging we finally take the time to get them done.
As you watch your classmates get accepted into exclusive schools, you begin to seriously consider if your special talent of putting away an abnormal amount of pizza could be a career path. Your GPA is lower than you wish it was, your parent’s standards are higher than Mt. Everest, and you begin to wonder if you will get into any of the schools you applied to.
You are in panic mode.
You twiddle your thumbs for the next few weeks hoping to get the good news you are hoping for, all the while you are just trying to enjoy your last year of high school.
While senior year holds some of the most stressful and chaotic times of your life up until this point, it also creates some of your best memories. High school is a time to grow and figure out who you are before college, so make the most of your time here and try not to worry too much about the little things.
Besides, the second half of senior year looks optimistic. Between prom, the class trip, officially figuring out what college you’re going to, and graduation, there are better things coming, so hang in there.
The days will go by slow, but the years fly by quickly. Even if you’re not a senior, try not to get caught up in the stress that may come along with your time spent at LHS because one day it will be gone.
‘Cause even though senior year sucks sometimes, it’s the only one you got so enjoy it while you still can.
