Senioritis has to be one of the worst things I've ever experienced. the lack of motivation, the stress, the emotions, the big decisions, the pressure. It's a lot for a person to handle. Especially if you’re just a girl. In the beginning of the year, I was told that I was supposed to have my personal statement done already, and I had just got there. When was anyone gonna tell me that was something I was supposed to work on over the summer or even last year? Then we had to get them revised and basically perfected. I finished mine and the word limit was 650. I had 1,000. It took me forever to start applying to colleges for that specific reason. If my English teacher had actually revised it instead of scanning over it, saying “this is really good”, and then going about her day, maybe things would be a little bit different. But I digress.
After that we made a college list, which we were said to have needed before the year started. I, in fact, did not start it. So that took extra time as well. Next, was the actual applying part. I’ll give it to the counselors: they made it a bit easier with the spreadsheet of our likely, target, and reach schools. It was very helpful. linking schoolinks and the common app together was helpful as well. What wasn’t helpful was no one telling me that I had to individually, and by myself, request for the college board to send schools my SAT scores. When was anyone gonna tell me? idk. The moral of the story is that they were sent.
Now, you’d think that once you apply to schools, you can finally take a moment to tend to the other 8 classes that you’re simultaneously taking. WRONG. You still have to apply to FAFSA, apply to scholarships, maintain your grades, keep your money up by working, make time extracurricular activities, raise awareness about genocide, and make time for yourself. Being a senior is absolutely impossible. No one should have to deal with that much stress, especially as a teenager who’s still figuring out life.
So I know you’re all thinking: what’s the point in this entire speech? My point is that school shouldn’t be a thing and everyone should just be rich and healthy. No I’m joking, in a perfect world though.
Now, you’d think that once you apply to schools, you can finally take a moment to tend to the other 8 classes that you’re simultaneously taking. WRONG. You still have to apply to FAFSA, apply to scholarships, maintain your grades, keep your money up by working, make time extracurricular activities, raise awareness about genocide, and make time for yourself. Being a senior is absolutely impossible. No one should have to deal with that much stress, especially as a teenager who’s still figuring out life.
So I know you’re all thinking: what’s the point in this entire speech? My point is that school shouldn’t be a thing and everyone should just be rich and healthy. No I’m joking, in a perfect world though.
But in all seriousness, I feel as though senior year should be about the year coming up, which is college. Have a class for applying to colleges, have a class for scholarships, have a class for the FAFSA, and then maybe add in an english and math class. But all those other classes are so unnecessary, unless it’s something you’re interested in. Like, why am I taking a film class when I want to go into business for cosmetology? No correlation whatsoever. But I know I need to get that grade or my scholarship to DePaul is gonna be taken quicker than Hazzard's hair was taken from him.
The moral of the story: senior year should be about what everyone talks about during senior year—college. Instead of the classes we take now, we should be taking those in junior year, and the ones in junior year in sophomore year. According to FutureEd, “The big picture is that kids at every grade are still behind where they would have been without the pandemic. All three reports look at student achievement in the spring of 2019, before the pandemic, and compare it to the spring of 2023. A typical sixth grader, for example, in the spring of 2023 was generally scoring much lower than a typical sixth grader in 2019.” Based on this, we see that students are behind in their studies. I think a good solution would be to catch up with them. Freshmen should be focusing on things they need to know for sophomore years, sophomores should be worried about junior work and SAT tests. Juniors should be taking the classes they would take for senior year. and senior year should be focusing on college.
The moral of the story: senior year should be about what everyone talks about during senior year—college. Instead of the classes we take now, we should be taking those in junior year, and the ones in junior year in sophomore year. According to FutureEd, “The big picture is that kids at every grade are still behind where they would have been without the pandemic. All three reports look at student achievement in the spring of 2019, before the pandemic, and compare it to the spring of 2023. A typical sixth grader, for example, in the spring of 2023 was generally scoring much lower than a typical sixth grader in 2019.” Based on this, we see that students are behind in their studies. I think a good solution would be to catch up with them. Freshmen should be focusing on things they need to know for sophomore years, sophomores should be worried about junior work and SAT tests. Juniors should be taking the classes they would take for senior year. and senior year should be focusing on college.
The moral of the story: senior year should be about what everyone talks about during senior year—college. Instead of the classes we take now, we should be taking those in junior year, and the ones in junior year in sophomore year. According to FutureEd, “The big picture is that kids at every grade are still behind where they would have been without the pandemic. All three reports look at student achievement in the spring of 2019, before the pandemic, and compare it to the spring of 2023. A typical sixth grader, for example, in the spring of 2023 was generally scoring much lower than a typical sixth grader in 2019.” Based on this, we see that students are behind in their studies. I think a good solution would be to catch up with them. Freshmen should be focusing on things they need to know for sophomore years, sophomores should be worried about junior work and SAT tests. Juniors should be taking the classes they would take for senior year. and senior year should be focusing on college.
We already have enough on our plate. If schools want us to excel, they shouldn’t put us in predicaments where we’re stressed 99% of the time and constantly worry about the next deadline and whether we have enough time or not. Students don’t work well under stress. They work well when they have time to take care of their studies as well as themselves. So, to all the seniors here, I'm proud of you. No matter if you have one college application done, a full ride, or if you’re not planning on going to college and maybe your plan is trade school or employment. I'm proud of you, and you should be proud of you. Give yourself a break and go take a walk, take a nap, go eat your favorite food, go to a party, hang out with your favorite food. Do something other than staying trapped in the prison that is your mind, thinking the key to letting yourself out is college and high school and work. The key to letting yourself out is yourself. Thank you.
We already have enough on our plate. If schools want us to excel, they shouldn’t put us in predicaments where we’re stressed 99% of the time and constantly worry about the next deadline and whether we have enough time or not. Students don’t work well under stress. They work well when they have time to take care of their studies as well as themselves. So, to all the seniors here, I'm proud of you. No matter if you have one college application done, a full ride, or if you’re not planning on going to college and maybe your plan is trade school or employment. I'm proud of you, and you should be proud of you. Give yourself a break and go take a walk, take a nap, go eat your favorite food, go to a party, hang out with your favorite food. Do something other than staying trapped in the prison that is your mind, thinking the key to letting yourself out is college and high school and work. The key to letting yourself out is yourself. Thank you.