About a year ago at this time, I was very excited to start what I thought would be a complete joke of a school year. I’d worked my tail off for three straight years to assemble a reputable resume for college. What I quickly learned was that being a senior in high school should not be taken for granted.
Sure, there’s the ever-satisfying feeling of knowing three years of high school are behind you–but don’t let that destroy any motivation to have a productive school year! Remember that this is still a very large chunk of your high school career– a quarter of it!– and you’ll be cheating yourself of a year of memories, knowledge and the development of a good work ethic if you take a too-relaxed approach to senior year.
Many people feel that once they’ve been accepted to college, there is no reason to put effort into receiving good grades in high school. I certainly don’t belong to that school of thought, for many reasons. First of all, many colleges have shown no fear of revoking a student’s admission or reducing his/her scholarship if they show too many academic signs of senioritis. Even more detrimental, I think, is the mindset such senioritis creates and carries over into college. I would find it very hard to motivate myself to work hard in college if I took a mental vacation my senior year; it’s important to stay in mental shape, which a productive senior year can certainly do.
Another thing that was a trap too many of my senior peers fell into, I noticed, was quitting activities they’d been involved in all of high school because they felt “it doesn’t matter anymore.” I like to think I was involved in all of the extracurriculars I chose because I wanted to be in them, not because they enhanced my college resume. Academics are important, but what made high school for me was all of the clubs and activities I participated in with my classmates; don’t deprive yourself of those memories– remember they still have something to offer you even if you don’t feel willing to participate in them!
I know it’s hard to stay focused in school when many of you will find out where you’ll be going to college in just a matter of weeks or months, but the focus is worth it. Many of you will face rejection from your dream schools, others will get in at schools they never thought would accept them, and there is always the handful of students who wait until the very last minute to decide where they will attend college– embrace all of it! Be grateful that Niles West is an environment that, whether you’re off to community college, trade school, an ivy league university or staying close to home, sets you up to excel in the next chapter of life.
