Emotion at every corner
High school is an adventure, one in which you truly find yourself. You grow up and become an adult and, before you know it, it's gone. Being a high school senior has its highs and lows; you get to feel like you're top dog on campus, but that is short-lived.
You get to do awesome things with your class when you're a senior, like go on the senior trip, attend the senior picnic, have your senior portrait taken and even just wear your own senior sweatshirt. You get to feel all that unity ... if you can afford it.
The sad fact of the matter is that while many students get to live and love their senior year, some don't.
"I've put a lot of hard work and dedication in these past four years, and I'm excited to finally see it pay off," said Wheatland Union High School senior Kyle Hayes.
When you reach your senior year of high school, you get a few things. You get a lighter backpack because generally you take easier classes (we call that senioritis), but you feel like you've earned that privilege because you've had to deal with the weight for three years.
You get to be a part of awesome senior activities that the rest of the school can't wait for. You get to skip STAR testing for the first time in what feels like a lifetime. And, finally, you get to see who you are and who you most likely are going to be in the years to come. You truly get to grow up between your freshman year to your senior year.
"I've been waiting four years for this, and now I just want to go back and do it all over again," said senior Tyler McClain.
But being a senior is not all perks. You have to be prepared for life and everything that comes with the territory. You have to fill out all of your own paperwork, because Mom wants you to be able to do it when you have to, and some of us have to register for financial aid because working jobs and going to college can be tough.
What arguably could be the worst part about senior year is knowing that once you walk across that stage and graduate, there's a good chance that you might not ever get to see your favorite teachers or best friends again. The people that you've known forever and have been there for you while you grew up might not be in your life anymore.
Being a senior definitely has its pros, but it has equal cons. You live on top of the world for a year, and you feel like you've earned it. But once that year's over, you have to start from the bottom all over again in an even bigger, unfamiliar environment that may not be as friendly. You get to become closer with every one of your peers, but it all comes to an end.
Being a high school senior is fun, but also one of the most emotional years of your life.
Rafe Smith is a senior at Wheatland Union High School. His column appears every six weeks in Education.
