This coming fall, I will be entering my last year of high school. Senior year – the greatest year of my life – is something I am told I will cherish forever. Over the course of my years in high school, I’ve befriended some upperclassmen. I’ve watched them grow and live out their senior years, graduate, and head off to college. Seeing my friends go through this time in their lives has made me come to many realizations, including the idea that the present time is but a fleeting moment. In short, time flies. I can conclude that on my own, too, considering I am already looking at potential colleges, where I will spend my next step in life. My friends tell me to hold on to what I have left of high school, and hold on tight. I’ve also learned this valuable lesson from the infamous show The Office. Character Andy Bernard, during the season and series finale, reflects on his time working at Dunder Mifflin. He says, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in ‘The Good Old Days,’ before you’ve actually left them.” This quote strikes a nerve for many, and really challenged me. It tells us to take each moment and hold it, because your future is not as in the future as you think.

Another major idea I’ve been able to conclude from being friends with upperclassmen is that high school kind of sucks. As senior year comes to a close, everyone gets more sentimental and says something like “high school is the greatest four years of your life.” Well, that’s not entirely true. Hopefully, I have a long life ahead of me that doesn’t involve staying up until one in the morning trying to finish homework, crying over grades, and being anxious for my future. Teenagers aren’t always the nicest people, either. Everyone has their moments, but sometimes, kids can be mean. Now, that’s not saying I didn’t enjoy any of high school, because there were many memories I’ve made that I wouldn’t trade for the world, and with people I hope are in my life forever. But through all of the ups and the downs of high school, academically and socially, I’ve realized that senior year makes everything worth it. You meet people you wish you had known your entire life. You get to go on some once in a lifetime adventures and trips with people you may never see again in your life. The crazy, wonderful year that will be your last year in high school makes every tear shed – happy or sad – worth it.

This is just as much of a message for myself as it is for anyone under the age of eighteen and still in school: do more. Senior year is the last chance to do so many things – it’s your last hoorah of high school. Say hi to someone you’ve never talked to before. Go to more school events, and be unapologetically spirited. Face one of your fears, surrounded by people who love you. Let go of a relationship or friendship that is hurtful to you. Go to homecoming, school dances, and prom. Try finding positives out of the negatives. Even further, don’t sit around a wallow in the scary ideas of the future. Don’t concern yourself with doing everything for the “last time.” Although senior year is a year of many “lasts” and you should make every moment count, try making is just as much a year of “firsts.” As Lee Ann Womack puts it, “when you get the choice to sit it out or dance – dance.”