When Reality Strikes A Senior

By LORI MARTELLO

Eight college applications to fill out, 12 essays to write, and 10 scholarships to apply for have reminded me I am no longer a kid. When I was younger and homeschooled, I felt as though high school and living with my family would last forever–and I never gave a thought to anything changing.

But in the last semester, I have realized the fantasy from childhood of things always staying the same is just that–a fantasy.

Life becomes scarier the closer I get to taking the next step after high school.

Almost two months into senior year, things keep piling up the more I prolong the inevitable: senior photos, letters of recommendation, ACT retake.

In previous years, I looked up to seniors and thought I can’t wait to be a senior and get out of here, and now that I am here, I feel the weight of my decisions, actions, and plans.

Being a senior is a culmination of the years prior and once high school is complete, I  have to put what I have learned into action.

I have heard parents (as well as classmates) boast that my senior year is the easiest, but I find this to be false. It’s not the challenge of Advanced Placement Psychology or United States History or Advanced Placement Literature that makes senior year difficult. But instead it’s difficult because I know that the choices I make now are going to affect the rest of my life. This amplifies the pressure and stress during senior year.

When I was a kid, big decisions were which stuffed animals I should get rid of to make room in our new house. As a senior, in the choice of selecting colleges, eliminating schools is much more difficult.

Some of the choices during my freshman year were not the finest. For example, I did not take a foreign language, and to my dismay, most colleges (including my top two choices, University of Florida and New York University) require two years completion of a foreign language.

I have come to realize that before making decisions, I should think of how they will affect my future.

Countless all-nighters, bags under my eyes, and bad hair days have been apart of my four years of school. What I have come to realize throughout the years is that I don’t need things to be easy and that doing all that I can now, to the best of my ability, will pay off, and that moving on and changing can be a good thing.