Let’s go through the life of a senior. You are sleep deprived, stressed, and even if you do not want to admit it, you are probably checked out. During the first semester you were worrying about your SAT and if your score was good enough for your dream school, or if you play a sport, if your dream school will recruit you. Maybe you are more academically driven and worrying if that D you received on a paper is going to hurt your GPA. No matter what you are doing in your senior year, from academics, to sports, to arts, you will experience a point of complete laziness that has been dubbed “senioritis.”

Since senior year is a stressful time filled with senior projects, graduation, and college applications. Therefore here are some tips to help with this important year.

1. Stay Focused

Push through and try not to lose inspiration. Senioritis hits many seniors like a bus so make sure to stay focused. Remember your goals and don’t stop striving for them. It is easy to give up, but you have all worked so hard so continue until the finish line.

1. Start Early

Because of good advice from my seniors, I made sure to start writing my college essays at the end of my junior year. Then throughout the summer I continued writing essays for colleges while also writing essays for scholarships. One good reason to start early is that you might find later on that you do not like your topic. Therefore, you will have the time to change it. Another reason is that with the senior year already being stressful, you do not want to add another worry. Personally, all my applications were on the common app which helped to only enter my information on one resource, but some schools have their own portals. Therefore, check this information so you know where to update your information. 

1. Know Deadlines

Not every application’s due date is easy to remember. There is no Husky Hub to check when things are due so I found it very helpful writing down my deadlines in a journal. Google Calendar would also work if you prefer digital, but it is important to have some means of checking your dates.

As high school students, you have already accomplished so much, even with COVID. Next year is your last year of high school, which will most likely be in person, and though you might be stressed with applications, enjoy your final year. Set aside some time to unwind and hang out with friends and family. Do not procrastinate on your assignments so you can still enjoy your last year of high school. 

However, to any other grade levels reading this, I am attaching a list below of all the advice my advisory came up with earlier this year for younger grade levels.

• take hard classes except for freshman year
• dress up for all the spirit days and enjoy them
• play a fall sport especially in your freshman year to help with making friends
• don’t procrastinate on projects or essays
• join clubs
• cut toxic people out of your life and don’t feel guilty about it
• analyze the situation first though
• take psychology
• take a class with Mrs. Peterson
• don’t wait to start a club until later on
• talk to upperclassmen and don’t be scared of them
• USE OFFICE HOURS

Stay diligent and have fun, Class of 2022!