Gridley students anticipate year's end

With just a month and a half of this school year left, the anticipation of graduation is becoming greater and greater for seniors at Gridley High School. The warm weather puts a spring in our steps and a smile of sunshine on our lips. Summer is almost here, and the prospect of having no school for three months is intoxicating. Teachers are holding classes outside, and no one seems to be able to focus on anything but being outside.

"I'm so anxious to be graduating and getting out of high school, but at the same time, I know that I will miss all of the spirit weeks and other fun high school experiences and activities," said GHS senior Amelia Holland.

However, seniors are not the only students who are restless in these last few days of school. Freshman Austin Howard is also very animated about next year. "I'm excited for my freshman year to be over, and I can't wait for football to start next year," he said.

All students who are in advanced placement classes are prepping and cramming for their tests, which run May 9-16. The AP classes at GHS include calculus, literature, United States history and language.

"Modern Dance" is coming up on May 17. It is a variety of student-choreographed dances in costume and set to modern music. However, oldies but goodies — such as "Greased Lightning" and "Footloose" — have also been known to be in the program.

Senior activities — such as senior picnic, senior trip and senior ditch day — are on the horizon. These activities clue us in to the end of our high school career and the beginning of the rest of our lives.

Seniors who will attend Butte College in the fall registered for classes on April 17 and are now realizing the gravity of how close high school graduation is. Other seniors who are not attending Butte are choosing their university or state college and making the necessary preparations for their new living situations.

The biggest activity that some seniors are looking forward to is the senior trip to Disneyland. This trip occurs the week after graduation and is the last time we are all together before heading off in different directions for our future. The trip includes the California Adventure and main parks at Disneyland, Disney Grad Night, a day at the beach, dinner at Medieval Times and a day at Magic Mountain. This fun-packed and invigorating trip will most likely leave us all very tired for a few days afterward.

The last few weeks of high school also bring the Final Farewell Rally, where we say goodbye to the seniors with a senior music video and the reading of all the colleges we are going to, as well as saying hello to the incoming freshmen — who unfortunately have four years still ahead of them in the jungle that is high school.

The last week of high school is dedicated to finals, the grueling finals that have everyone tearing out their hair with worry and wringing their hands in anticipation of their final grades.

And then there is graduation. A glorious ritual that seniors must go through to start the rest of their lives. Graduation is a testament to all of our hard work from the last four years of our lives. Forty-eight days and counting ...

Holly Anderson is a senior at Gridley High School. Her column appears every six weeks in Education.