Currently I am approaching the end of my final year of high school, and can I just say- it’s been a ride. I remember my first day of freshman year. I had never even stepped foot in the building, other than orientation. I was dropped off, and entered through a side door into what seemed like a whole new world. The second I stepped through the threshold I was hit with a mix of wonder, at how together and mature the seniors seemed to be, and paralyzing fear at the fact that I had no idea how these next four years would turn out. I don’t remember much else about that day other than Latin class and the fact that our teacher began with a PowerPoint that contained pictures of his dog and Pars Hilton. That year, I found my first real friend group, I went to my first dance, and got more lost and confused inside my own mind then I ever thought I could.

Sophomore year seemed to fly by and honestly, it was probably the best year out of the four. We were no longer “fresh meat” but we didn’t have to deal with the pressure of starting the college search. That year I made some really great friends in my photography class, I joined H.O.P.E club, and I actually started to sign up with teachers for enrichment and got to know them.

Junior year is often referred to as the most stressful year, and I have to say that that is true. It’s full of college visits, guidance office visits, and Naviance updating. Fun. But through the pain of writing and rewriting college essays and trying to narrow down the ten colleges I had visited the summer before, I managed to have fun in classes like journalism and creative writing. I still went to H.O.P.E club meeting and stated going to Brillig meetings. Becoming more involved is something I wish I had done my freshman year. It would have helped me to make friends and get to know teachers sooner and given me a sense of community I had missed out on that first year. Thankfully it’s something I’ve found my senior year.

Coming into this school year, I didn’t know what to expect, if it would be a breeze (it wasn’t) or if it would be the most stressful year of my life. It ended up being a little bit of both. Granted, I’m not finished yet but I think I’m pretty well immersed into it. One cool thing about being a senior is that you have more freedom in choosing your classes. You’re pretty much done with most of your mandatory classes needed to graduate so you can take classes you actually enjoy.  This is really nice because while I was trying to figure out FAFSA, apply to college, hear back, decide, then figure out how I’m paying or the next four years of my life, I can at least go to school and be in classes I enjoy. Now, coming up on the last few weeks of my high school career, I can look back at the four years I spent here and take lessons from them that can be applied to the nest four years- join more clubs, don’t be afraid to make friends, talk to teachers, and just enjoy them.