After junior year, I figured, “If I got through the ACT, SAT, and all my AP exams, I can get through anything senior year throws at me -- piece of cake!” Truth is, I find that it’s a lot more complicated than it seems.
Everything has a deadline, and there are so many applications to fill out, essays to write, scholarships to apply for, recommendations to ask for … and you still have to be a student! For me that means upholding my GPA, roles as Cross-Country team captain and chair in the Business Club, and having fun while doing it.
A sense of excitement
Everyone expects you to set an example while doing the big push for college. Funny thing is, I’m more excited now than ever! For senior year, college, the front of the lunch-line☺, and all the work that comes along with it (not!). I’m excited because senior year is when you finally get to see your hard work pay off.
You see where you rank and receive a final chance to maximize your abilities. You get to be at the top and take it all in before going to college and being all the way back at the bottom, LOL. Senior year, I’m also partying harder than ever with no curfew and the excitement of PROM!!!
I reek of the “I’m almost grown” feeling, even though I still have my parents at my back. That’s why I call senior year “the era of protected freedom.” You’re still in the hands of your school and family, and you still probably have to take out the trash or wash the dishes. BUT there is so much that you have to choose to do to make an impact on your life. I’m thinking about where I want to go, how to apply, and the most strategic way to do things, while making the decisions myself.
So many decisions
All summer I’ve been getting mail from some of the most prestigious to the more intimate universities in the United States. One of the best schools in the U.S. for Political Science (my intended major) is the University of Chicago -- my top choice actually!
Why leave Chicago when I have the best down the street?! I’ll apply the University of Chicago, to “backup schools” that I know I can get into for sure, and to some of the top colleges through Questbridge, hopefully, and some schools that are away just in case. ☺
CHOICES, CHOICES, CHOICES. That’s mainly what I have to say about senior year. It all lies on your decisions.
