Everyone Lied to Us

Everyone had said that senior year was going to be the least stressful after junior year, but they lied. To future seniors, good luck, you’ll really need it. SENIOR YEAR IS A BUNCH OF BOLOGNA.

People always told us that junior year was going to be the most stressful year, those people lied to our faces. They said senior year was so fun and laid back, but here we are having only barely survived to tell the tale. We can only tell the Class of 2024 one thing: Good luck.

After a brief summer break, you will embark upon your last year of high school, after which time you’ll be off to college. It should be really exciting - a new adventure or whatever teachers always tell us. But honestly, that’s what is even more stressful about it all. During senior year you have to think about what college you want to go to, then you have to actually apply to those colleges while also juggling your other classwork. Essay after essay is what our life was like and that was only for the first semester for college applications, don’t get me started with the essays you have to write for other classes. You get no breaks at all and then you hope that next semester it will be better since you're done with all of the college applications. But once winter break rolls around, all hope is gone because even that one break that you get in between semesters is ruined by homework that you get from your classes, I’m looking at you Ms. Moreno, and Ms. Ford (who went to go get the milk). 

The second semester is a little easier but it's just as stressful as the first if not more because this is the time when colleges are sending out admission letters. Which can be a really fun and exciting thing if you get accepted into your dream college but also the exact opposite of a really fun and exciting thing if you get rejected and you still have to push through and pretend like everything is okay when in reality you feel like dying. 

On top of that now you have to actually make your decision of where you want to go after high school. If you got accepted into your dream school then the decision is simple. But if you have no idea where you want to go then you will have to rack your brain and uncover your deepest hopes and wishes before May 1. 

Oh, and did we mention that you have to also start to consider the money aspect of things, something that many of us don’t really think about on a day-to-day basis? You have to think about if this school is really worth getting into debt for. It sucks because you could’ve accepted your dream school but when you receive your financial aid award you may be disappointed. Even if you live in South Central you may not qualify for a full ride. The school may be under the impression that your parents make too much money and therefore not want to fully support you. It’s a lot to suddenly have to start thinking about, but this is what your life will be like in a couple of months after high school so it’s better that you face this problem on right now then push it back later and watch it crumble in your face. 

Honestly, I don’t know who said that senior year was easier compared to junior year because obviously they never had a senior year. If you think senior year is a breeze and you were looking forward to your High School Musical moment, it's time to face reality and see that it's not going to happen. It’s a lot of thinking to yourself what do you want in the future, for some it will come easier than others but we all don’t have our lives planned out. It’s very stressful, the only thing you can look forward to are the senior activities in the last week of school. Because by then you are done with all of your final exams, you are done with dealing with the stress of senior year. But unfortunately you will only be happy for one week because in a couple of months you will enter college or enter the workforce and now have to be an actual adult with actual responsibilities. So really if you didn’t understand the whole purpose of this, good luck you really are going to need it. I will pray for your sanity throughout your senior year.