by executive team member, Kakazi
I never thought I was the sentimental type but time and time again, I’m proven wrong. As my junior year came to a close, I attended graduation parties and ceremonies that made me cry more than I’d thought possible. There was an unhealthy mix of students, seniors and faculty leaving that had me dehydrated. Despite all these draining feelings, I constantly had butterflies in my stomach when I thought about the upcoming year. I pictured myself at my senior prom in a stunning jumpsuit, at graduation in a cap and gown accessorised with a large smile and then I cried some more. Months later when I had processed all those circle of life feelings, my friend – Bridget and I talked about the excitement and angst of senior year.
Apart from the “have fun, time of our lives” portion of senior year, college is at the top on my list of priorities. Bridget and I had different approaches to this stage of our lives. She questioned taking a gap year, to find some clarity in what she wanted to do and learn responsibility outside a school setting. She ultimately decided against it and instead looked at colleges in her home state. I on the other hand immediately knew college was the next stepping stone in my journey. I didn’t want to see another winter for the rest of my life and that narrowed down my options. I couldn’t decide on a major or whether I wanted a large school with D1 basketball games or a small liberal arts college. After hours on college confidential and multiple college search tools, we’re yet to find our dream schools. Nonetheless, we’ll keep looking and working until that mini moment of enlightenment that has been described to us finally comes along.
I’ve had a long summer of procrastinating SAT prep while closing my eyes to imagine myself on a southern California campus. Bridget had been actually studying for her next SAT, touring colleges and polishing up her resume. We were both pretty nervous about the college application process, mainly maintaining our GPAs while taking on the extra workload of the common app. I have been an avid procrastinator since my freshman year, and the only structure that’s helped me maintain my grades is a 2-hour study hall after dinner. It’s important to mark up all the deadlines/ due dates you have and commit to a schedule or routine to meet them.
In order to challenge ourselves in our last year of high school, Bridget and I have signed up for as many AP courses as we could in fields we’re interested in. This has the general perks of added weight to your GPA and showing a college admission committee that you’re interested in challenging yourself. Given the perks, the impending Bs and Cs we might get still have us worried. The important thing is not to stretch yourself out too thin and surround yourself with people(teachers, friends, counsellors) who will remind you of your academic values.
The most exciting parts of senior year are all the festivities and ceremonies. I have never attended a prom throughout my high school career but I plan on making the most out of my senior prom. As soon as all my college applications are sent in, I will be dedicating an absurd amount of my time to prom inspiration. In true Bridget fashion, she is most excited for graduation because we’ll be getting really good food. She looks forward to the return of an ice cream truck that shares all its delicacies with an unlimited amount of servings for free.
All in all, the class of 2018 is ready to crush this milestone.
