To High School Seniors, Here's What You Need To Know

So I found this pre-written post on my list of archived blogs today, and I realized that I hadn't gotten around to posting it yet. In honor of all my good friends still stuck in high school, I thought I'd offer up a little advice.


To all the high school seniors out there─you've got one year left. One year from now, your high school career will be over. 
Senior year is what you make it, right? Maybe. For some of you, this will be the best year yet. For others it just might be the worst. And maybe it'll be mediocre─that's okay too. As someone who's lived through it, I've got a bit of advice.

So here's what you're gonna want to know:

Senioritis─it is a real thing my friends.

Oh boy, is it a real thing.

Supposedly, there are different stages to senioritis, though I'd be one to argue that the majority jump right to detestation. First you're pumped for the year, then you might start thinking back to old memories and get a bit nostalgic. 

Somewhere along the way you might will start to get annoyed with people, but after awhile you're back to the good old memories. A few tears here and there─whether out of sadness or hope for the future, I will not say. Then you're getting annoyed with people again, and most likely a bit frustrated.

Eventually, there comes a time when you just want to leave the building. You're done, you're ready to go. Sayonara, get me out of here. You can only pray this doesn't happen on your first day back at school.

Embrace the freedom, but don't abuse it.

Being a responsible senior has its perks. Follow the rules, get your homework done, and you will discover the beauty of your bountiful harvest. I'm talking freedom Fridays and open campus─two events in which you have the freedom to go home. You actually get to LEAVE THE SCHOOL people. Why would you pass up that opportunity? (If your school doesn't offer these perks, my deepest condolences to you.)

Now back to that responsibility I was talking about. If you're going home to sleep during your study hall, set an alarm. You don't want to wake up at 2:30 realizing your study hall ended at 12:45. And when you do leave the building, make sure you're back before the next bell. As someone who knows, I'm telling you to leave yourself some extra time to park. Chances are, you're gonna get there one day only to realize that there are absolutely NO PARKING SPACES in the whole lot. After a bit of driving around, you'll come to realize that there is in fact a parking space─in the back of the lot, exactly three million steps away from the door.

Start the college search now, if you haven't already.

There's this thing called deadlines─yep, they're real. It's not like high school; the teacher won't drop you a letter grade in exchange for an extra day to complete the assignment. It's not like that─you either get the application in on time, or you don't.

Now I don't want to freak you out here, but I do want you to be aware. I'll be honest, some schools will still accept your application next summer. However, at that point in the game your opportunity to receive a school-specific scholarship will be long gone.

College is expensive. One word: scholarships.

If you're thinking college is expensive, you're right! But don't let that be the one reason you bypass college altogether. Ask about scholarships, because they are available. Check with your guidance counselor about local scholarships, but be sure to look online too.

Not sure where to start?
Check out a few of these websites, create an account, and see what options are out there.

http://www.fastweb.com/

https://www.scholarships.com/

https://www.cappex.com/

https://www.chegg.com/scholarships

Not going to college? That's okay, too.

Maybe you plan to take a year off to work. Or maybe you're going to jump right into work. If you know what you want to do, if you have an ambition and a passion that drives you, go for it. But if you're just going into the workforce because you think that you're not "college material", give yourself a little more credit. You've made it this far, haven't you? Why not keep going.

Don't think of this as the year of many "lasts".

Honestly, there will be a lot of lasts, but that's not what the year's about. While it's great to make every day count, don't tell yourself that everything you do has to be extraordinary just because it's senior year. Don't set the expectations too high because I'm here to tell you that not every day is exciting. There can be great moments─and there will be─just don't try to force it. Go with the flow, have fun, and remember that nothing is going to go exactly as you had envisioned it.

With that said, don't be afraid to shed a few tears. One day you'll be sitting in lunch, taking that one last bit of your hot ham 'n cheese, and you're gonna realize that you'll never eat one of those hot ham 'n cheeses again. If you need to take a moment to compose yourself, you go right ahead. I can understand that. 

And in that last leg of your final mile run, when you're just starting up that final hill, I understand if you're getting a little flustered. And if you shed one or two tears, that's understood as well. Sometimes running upsets me too.

Accept that people change.

I'm not the person I was freshman year, and I'm definitely not the person I was 6th grade year. Through various life experiences I have grown and matured in beautiful ways, as have many of my classmates.

And realize that when people change, sometimes friendships change too.

You might not like it at first, but I want you to know that sometimes it takes distance to notice that there are other people outside your immediate circle of friends. The world is full of people with different viewpoints, perspectives, and experiences. Get to know those other people. Please don't limit your friendships to the people who are exactly like you, or the people who you think are exactly like you. There is beauty in individuality.

Prom really isn't the highlight of the year.

Don't fall victim to the trap─don't do it. I thought prom was THE event of the school year. It sounds so extravagant, you know? You get all "prettied" up. You paint your nails, you get your hair done. You take some pictures (probably a lot of pictures) and then you walk down grand march with your matching date to show off that picturesque sparkly dress that you spent three million two thousand five hundred and seventy-nine dollars on.

Okay─maybe the dress didn't cost that much, but if you're anything like I was, then the dress wasn't cheap. It's one night people─you'll be wearing that dress for less than 10 hours. It's okay to buy the dress on sale. No one knows how much it costs unless you tell them.

So there you have it seniors.

Make it a great year or not, the choice is yours.

[Interested in reading more? Check out the Blog Archive to the right to find links to my other posts.]

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