Senior year. Known as the last one, the big one, “the best for last” and a myriad of other senior related Iinstagram captions. Senior year has been tweeted, texted, blogged as many times as you can imagine. But what has been mentioned the least is how stressful it can be.
If someone ever said senior year was a breeze, they got it wrong. Entirely. A survey collected data showing how stressed seniors really were, and the results were mind blowing. A shocking 45 percent said their stress levels were above average and another 10 percent said that they had about average levels of stress. The other 45? They blamed their lack thereof on “senioritis.”
“I feel like it doesn’t matter much this year,” said senior Carrie Solazzo. “In fact, junior year is harder. Trying to keep your grades up for that transcript you have to turn in for college is extremely important junior year, and this year, it’s just not.”
She’s not the only one who thinks so. Senior Eddie Kammerer felt similarly, saying that senior year was the “most fun by far,” but he doesn’t necessarily care much for the classes. Yes, the classes are harder, but grades to some seem to be less important than in past years.
On the other hand are the extremely driven. Senior year kicked some into overdrive, and class ranking is the only thing on their mind.
To a very dedicated senior like Allie Kopeck, grades are life or death. Study sessions with classmates on a nightly basis is her entire world, it keeps her in the top ten rank of the grade. It would be a miracle if she wasn’t stressed.
Not to mention the college process that keeps many a senior up at night. Surveys showed that of the applications due on Nov. 1, a vast majority had already started the process. And had already started to stress about it. Talk about a heart attack waiting to happen.