The past three years have built to this moment: the best, last year of high school. 

We now have the privilege to care just a little bit less about our grades, giving us time for afternoon boba runs or spontaneous hiking trips with friends (got to get those steps in). 

But it really just feels surprisingly ordinary. We’re taller than the freshmen … well, most of them at least, but the course load hasn’t gotten much easier. In fact, we would go so far as to say that senior year is just as challenging as junior year, but with the addition of college applications, it’s even harder. 

As the beginning of the year drew closer, we thought we’d be full of energy, mentoring the underclassmen and just all-around being incredibly cool. We’ve been looking up to the seniors these past three years, and now we’ve finally become them. 

In reality, being a senior means that we’re just chronically tired from our inconsistent sleep schedules, only looking forward to finishing our homework every day so we can get to the favorite part of the day: passing out in bed from exhaustion. 

So here’s the first lesson we’ve learned about senior year: It pays to get all the sleep you can and build a solid sleep schedule. Even though it might seem cool to stay up until 3 a.m. having delirious conversations with your friends, inconsistent sleep wreaks havoc on your body and mind, leaving you the equivalent of the Walking Dead as you wander through the hallways.

Lesson No. 2: Productivity at night decreases in proportion to lateness of the hour. Rather than doing homework deep into the night or early morning for an AP class, do yourself a favor and work on it when you wake up in the morning.

Lesson No. 3: It’s best to start writing those dreaded college application essays in June.

Even though the college application process is nightmarish, it is a group experience — and it’s always more fun to suffer together. It’s like studying for a huge Chemistry Honors test with your friends, except that test is drawn out over a period of half a year and determines your future. That being said, we’ve learned to try not to be too worried about the scariness of things we can’t control.

Excluding college applications, our year so far hasn’t been all bad. There have been fun moments sprinkled in with the pain of AP classes and college applications. The older you grow, the more freedom you start to have. We’re taking advantage of the fact you can drive out and spend your parents’ money before you have to start opening up your own wallet later.
Beyond climbing the steep wall of college applications, we’re slowly realizing that this is the last year we’ll see many of our friends. The time spent with our friends now is more precious than before — so we’re trying to be a little bolder when trying out new things, making fun memories that will last beyond high school.

So is senior year all that it’s cracked up to be? Being only about a month in, we’d say it’s going fine. After all, even with the academic pressure, we’ve always got our friends with us to help relieve the stress. Maybe it’s not the best year yet, but with some 9 more months to go, we’re confident senior year might still be our best year of high school.