I know, I know. For the Seniors reading this, you already know. Stress, stress, and more stress. For the Juniors reading this, it’s got to be better than what you’re going through now. For the Sophomores and Freshman reading this, it’s at least two years away, and while you can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel, it’s nowhere near what needs to be on your agenda.

What is all the talk about Senior Year?

Well, for starters, it’s stress. It’s applying to numerous colleges and universities, and even more numerous scholarships to afford and attend those prestigious colleges and universities. It’s choosing between two of your dream schools and hoping that in the end, you make the right choice for nobody but yourself. It’s taking on a workload to get and keep your GPA up. Although you do get the option to get out at 12, many of us have a workload outside of school that forces our getting out at 12 to just nearly be the beginning of the day. It’s taking multiple classes at Limestone or SCC that allow you to get a head-start on your college path that you know you’re going to need. It’s a job that allows you to make the money you need to allow you to do everything you said you would your senior year – the concerts, the balls, the parties. It’s attending every athletic event possible because you know after this year, you’ll no longer be apart of the beloved student section – you’ll just be another fan in the stands. It’s knowing that while you’re sitting around stressing about the next paper that’s due tomorrow, or the government test tomorrow, you have one less day of seeing the friends you’ve seen every day for the last four years. It’s finally coming to a hard conclusion that in a few months, those friends you’ve seen every day for the past four years, you may not ever speak to them again.

While that’s what nearly any website would say when you type “What Does Senior Year Hold” on a search engine, it’s not nearly what my senior year has held already. At the near semester point, I’ve learned many lessons that I thought I would never reach conclusions to.

That heartbreak you thought you’d never get over – it doesn’t last. While you’re sitting around feeling sorry for yourself, wondering why you weren’t good enough, crying your eyes out – he/she is really already moved on long before your relationship actually ended. It’s sad, but it’s true. The quicker you realize this, the better – especially your senior year. Ultimately, it’s better to not have any ties at all your senior year, for you don’t need anyone that’ll hold you back from ANYTHING – but definitely not your true potential. Oh and by the way – give it two months – I promise after that you won’t miss them at all anymore.

It’s true when they say your senior year is all about finding yourself. Not only are you finding a major, you’re also finding out who really means the most to you – and truly, who never did. You’re going to lose friends; granted if you haven’t already lost friends in high school, consider yourself extremely lucky. However, not only are you going to lose friends, but you’re also going to lose the people that meant the absolute most to you. The people you’ve loved for the longest are going to show you that they don’t deserve to be on the pedestal you’ve put them on since the beginning. They’re going to truly show you their true selves, and I really hope you listen – for they’re showing you what you need to avoid becoming. However, don’t hold grudges against these people; they truly can’t help who they are. While resentment may be what you feel at the time, find it in your heart to forgive and let go – for you have much more important things to worry about than the small people that played such a small role in your life.

While it is your last year in high school, and you’ve seriously thought you’ve met everyone in your class you could possibly meet – keep your eyes open for the people you’ve never seen. For these people will become some of your closest friends and will be the ones you hold dearest to your heart.

With that being said, don’t conform just so you can be a part of the “popular group.” While drinking on the weekends sounds exciting at the time, is that really who you are? Or is it just the reputation you’re willing to hold to be popular? Please don’t feel like you have to do this to be popular or make friends. While your squad might not have a cool name, and you may not get invited to all the parties they’re promising their parents are just sleepovers, I promise being your true self allows you to meet the truest friends you’ve ever met in your life.

One of the most important, and hardest, lessons I’ve had to learn my senior year is that my parents were always right – especially mom. They were always right about that relationship, that friendship, that party they didn’t let me go to – they were right about it all. While it was hard to hear at the time and while I did think they were just holding me back from letting me grow up, I truly see now that they had my best interest at heart, and I wish I would’ve always been listening.

However, truly one of the most important things I’ve learned over my four years of high school and the one thing that has become most evident my senior year – always keep your mind, eyes, and heart open to opportunity. Although you may have your eyes set on one goal, never turn away from an opportunity you may never have the chance to have again. Take that job, take that class, be as involved as you can possibly be. Don’t miss a single game, don’t fear joining a club for what your friends might think, run for student council, step out of your comfort zone and do the pageant. Do everything that you possibly can. For your senior year is your last chance at doing it, and after that, it’s just a ton of “what-ifs.”

While what I’ve told you might sound scary, it is. Senior year is truly the year that you figure your life out. It’s sitting and listening to what people have told you it was going to always be, and then actually going and living it. While it’s terrifying knowing you’re about to lose the people you care about so much to grow up and be out on your on, it’s so exciting knowing you get a fresh slate and a new chapter that you get to write on your own. Your senior year will be the most fun you’ve ever had in your life. Make sure you make it your own.

P.S. – follow your dreams. I don’t care if your dream school is thousands of miles away. Make the choice YOU want to make, regardless of how it makes the others around you feel. You hold your dreams at your fingertips, please make sure you follow them.