You are sitting in your room with papers scattered everywhere, pencils thrown about, and a half-eaten peanut butter sandwich is lying on your desk. Your mind is cluttered with a million thoughts: What should you wear tomorrow? Did you write your essay? Is he going to ask to you to prom? Oh, and wait, what colleges do you still have to apply to? Senior year is tough; trust me, I’ve been there. But hopefully these 10 steps can help you clear your head and make your year a tad bit easier.

1. Challenge yourself. Senior year is the last step before you are completely on your own, and although your friends may tell you to take the easy classes in order to have the best year ever, you might want to reconsider. College is hard, in fact, I was completely shocked by how much more studying you have to put into your classes in order to get the grades you want. Instead of taking the easy way out, challenge yourself with AP courses, classes you struggle with, or classes you don’t even like because in the end it will help you become more prepared for the journey you will embark on a year from now.
2. Spend time with your family. I know some of you may be excited to be leaving the nest, but no matter how much you think you won’t miss your family, you will. Friends are important, but your family members are the people who will stay in your life forever. Make sure to spend time with them because once you get to college you will realize just how much you miss those home cooked meals, goodnight hugs, and reassuring conversations that make you feel like everything is going to be okay. Also, don’t forget about your siblings. No matter how much you may fight with them you will miss having them around because no one understands you like they do.
3. Focus on yourself. Senior year is filled with stress because many of you are trying to figure out what colleges to apply to. A piece of advice: listen to YOUR heart. The college you choose is the place you are going to call home for the next four years of your life, so don’t worry about where your friends are applying, where your family wants you to apply, or where advisors think you should apply. Take chances. Apply to reach schools, apply to schools across the country, and apply to schools close to home. But most importantly, apply to schools that will make you proud to be a part of the student body because this is your time to figure out who you are and who you want to become.
4. Take Chances. I wish I would’ve followed this piece of advice a little better. Senior year is your last year with the group of students you may have been with since elementary school. This is the last time you guys will all be together, so take chances. Dance in the halls. Who cares who sees? You won’t see 90 percent of these kids next year. Tell your friends how much you love them. Tell that one boy you’ve had a crush since freshman year how you feel because you may regret it if you don’t. Do something crazy. This is it. This is your year, so make sure it’s a year to remember!
5. Relax. Trust me when I say this may be the key component to the madness that is considered senior year. Just relax. Everything will be okay. Senior year is stressful. I know you are wondering if you are going to get into your dream school, I know you are wondering who is going to take you to prom, and I know you are wondering what you are going to do without your best friends next year, but everything will fall into place. You are going to end up at the right college. You are going to go to prom with an amazing person, or better yet rock out with your friends, and you will discover that the people most important in your life will take the time to stay in it. Enjoy senior year because it will be over before you know it.
6. Accept your mistakes. You most likely have made a lot of mistakes in high school, many of which you regret. We’ve all been there and it’s okay. Just try to accept your mistakes and move on from them because you shouldn’t waste your senior year worrying about things that can’t be changed. Mistakes help us grow. Mistakes help us understand right from wrong. Be proud of your mistakes because in the end they have helped shape you into the person that you are today.
7. Pig out. Take advantage of those amazing home cooked meals because I can tell you right now the dining hall food is nothing compared to a meal prepared by your mom. Also, take advantage of whatever restaurants are your guilty pleasure. For the love of food, go to Portillo’s as often as you can and order their cheese fries and chocolate cake shakes because nothing will compare to the deliciousness that is Portillo’s. And don’t get me started on the pizza. If you are from Chicago, you know that deep dish is the only way to go, so treat yourself to as many slices as you want, after all, you deserve it from all the hard work you put in for applications.
8. Stop trying to impress people. Honestly, I cannot tell you how many times I tried to act a certain way or look a certain way in order to get certain people to notice me, at least I did that a lot my freshman year. As you go through high school you learn who your true friends are, and if you are still a little shaky on who you want to be then just be yourself. Stop trying to impress people because as soon as you start trying to be someone that you aren’t, then you lose a little piece of yourself. This is your last year in high school, so make it count with the people who matter the most.
9. Appreciate your teachers. I know some of you may be rolling your eyes at this one, but trust me when I say that professors at college are very different than your high school teachers. In college, you are often in a lecture with hundreds of other students, so the odds of getting to know your teacher are slim to none unless you take the opportunity to visit them during their hours off. This may be one of the last times you are with a teacher who knows you better than you know yourself. This may be the last time you have a teacher who truly understands you and takes the time to make sure you get things right. Don’t get me wrong, professors want you to do well, but I cannot explain the amount of gratitude I have for a few high school teachers that really impacted me and cared about how I was doing whether it was academically related or not.
10. HAVE FUN. Senior year is stressful, surreal, crazy, and memorable. Take the time to go on adventures with your friends on the weekends, maybe even to places you have never been before. Cherish those movie nights when you can snuggle with your bestie and stuff your face with popcorn. Get excited for senior prom and graduation and make your last summer before college a summer to remember. After all, you’ve spent four years in high school, I think you deserve a little break don’t you think?

Of course I could give you a million pieces of advice, but for now I think these are ten important components to making your senior year a little bit better. I hope that you will be able to look back on this year and smile for these memories will last a lifetime.