The Truth About Senior Year
As the years fly by during our high school careers, we are so caught up in all of the school work, sports, and school events that we forget how quickly senior year is approaching all of us. This realization of being a senior actually only hits students when they enter the first day of senior year. The Class of 2018 is now at the top of the high school hierarchy, and it is our job to make the most of what is left of this year. It is our job to mentor those younger than us, and to set the example of how to succeed in high school. This senior class now represents Park Ridge High School, and the opportunities that it has to offer each of us.
Most of the time, these articles written are from a college student’s point of view, explaining how to enjoy one’s senior year and try to make it last as long as possible. From a current senior’s point of view, I think that it is safe to say most of us are feeling the stress more than ever right now, especially with the finishing of the SAT’s, college applications, and the dreadful fear of not getting into your top school. Current senior, Alli Uhl, said “It is a scary process not knowing which schools I am going to get into and how my future is going to look like. With that being said, there is definitely a comfort in knowing my surroundings for the past six years and I don’t know if I am ready to give that up quite yet, and leap into a new world.”
The reality of senior year hits harder than a freight train. No one ever thinks that time will run out, but it does. Senior year began as any other year. The truth will not really hit anyone until we start figuring out or future and experience all of the “lasts.” When I first walked through those doors on the first day, it felt bittersweet. I did not want summer to end, and I was anxious to finally be a senior and be able to figure everything out about myself. Senior Tara Fahy said “I felt proud walking into these doors. I felt as if a weight was lifted off of my shoulder and that I finally made it and all of my hard work in High School was going to pay off. I was excited to see everyone that I hadn’t seen over the summer, and I was excited to finally be a senior and to see all that this year has in store for me.”
I remember myself as a timid freshman on the first day of school. Going to practice with the “big seniors” seemed so intimidating, yet I grew to look up to them. As I enter the school I see a senior who has grown confident. I pass teachers in the hallway who have helped shaped me into the student and person I am becoming. I look at the freshmen and think about how hopefully, they look up to me in one way or another. Although our High School years will not be the best time of our lives, it is important to make the most of it from this day forward. It is important for the Class of 2018 to come together to become role models, to help out those in need, and to look back and realize how far each and every one of us has come.
