The media portrays senior year as the best year of your life. Football games, applying to college, and signatures in the back of your yearbook. For some reason, the people behind these productions fail to mention the parts of senior year they themselves got to experience. So, when you finally cross the threshold into your last year of school, you tend to be shocked by the reality of it. The experiences are great, but they are dulled by the weight of the rest of your life on your shoulders. Seventeen and eighteen-year-olds can barely be trusted with an honor period, but are tasked with figuring out their lives without a fully developed brain. The media and the adults in high schoolers’ lives lie about senior year, leaving them to stressfully figure it out on their own.
Throughout high school, there’s a sense of security. The jobs of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are to get good grades and do extracurriculars if they would like. However, senior year doesn’t have that luxury. It is like standing on the edge of a cliff and looking down. Instead of there being rocks at the bottom, there are a million paths leading to different outcomes. Somehow, seniors are expected to pick the correct one. Adults stress that there is always a chance to change their mind, but no one realistically wants to be in that situation. Some seniors are excited to leave high school and start their life, but others grip the edge, frozen in fear. A study done by CollegeData 52% of high school seniors are stressed about applying for college, and another 21% are stressed about paying for college. Seniors are trying to figure out what direction to take without the life experience to help them. It’s a constant state of stress that they’ve never experienced before. According to the Education Data Initiative, “The average cost of college in the United States is $38,270 per student per year, including books, supplies, and daily living expenses” (Education Data Initiative). For many seniors, trying to enjoy their last year of high school with that amount of money weighing on them is nearly impossible.
After high school, lots of people move away. This may be for college, a trade, or just a change of scenery. Some don’t even get the time to breathe before they pack up their entire life and move. Change can have a huge effect on people, especially those who don’t have a fully developed sense of self. According to an article by The Ellie Blog, a blog on mental health, “From a psychological perspective, change often disrupts our established routines and familiarity, leading to feelings of uncertainty and stress” (The Ellie Blog). Sudden changes after high school is another aspect of senior year that weighs heavily on students. Even if high school graduates don’t move away after high school, they are still losing a vital part of their daily routine that was the same for years.
A large part of high school is self-development. As kids become young adults, they start to break away from their parents and pursue their own beliefs. While this isn’t unique to senior year, it is a part of being a teenager and growing up. In this sense, there are two paths people can take. They can follow the path of their parents and peers that’s already carved out for them. It is predictable and walked through by people before them. The other option is choosing their own path, unmarked and completely unpredictable. This may apply to career paths, religion, sexuality, and more. This is the time when people find their purpose in the complexity of life and develop their sense of self.
The media told kids that senior year was the year that made middle and high school worth it. When they finally got to experience it, it was stressful and overwhelming for some. For others, it may have been anticlimactic. For me personally, I was underwhelmed with the things I had accomplished; expectations didn’t meet the reality. I had this preconceived idea of the person I would be and didn’t leave any room for the person I became. I broke away from my parents and developed my own beliefs and perspectives on the world. What I failed to realize was that I’m young and my life is just getting started. I haven’t lived enough to be disappointed in what I have or haven’t done. If any readers feel the same, just remember to breathe. Life is moving fast, but you’re fast enough to keep up with it.