As a second semester senior, I feel as if I have some kind of civic duty to give a few tips to the upcoming class. Here you are, making those final pushes to perfect your APUSH DBQ writing and your Great Gatsby annotations perfect. You're doing well if you have a B because the extra seven points will boost you up and the stress has only made you cry one time this week. If this is your situation, you need to be reading this article, because I have five tips for you so that you can actually enjoy your senior year.

1. Take no more than three AP Classes.

Unless you plan on going to the most prestigious college in your state or every school you're looking at need you to be above a 4.0, do not kill yourself senior year on hard classes. If you've taken AP's throughout your high school career and have accumulated at least four including about two or three your senior year, you'll have enough credits to make it. AP classes are a lot of work and having four of them is a recipe for hating your life your entire senior year, which you will regret in the long run.

2. Participate in school functions.

This is something I didn't do that I wish I had. Go to the football games, enjoy the pep rallies, go to homecoming and prom, do all of the things you'll never get to do again. I promise you'll cherish those memories more than you will memories of either sleeping, being drunk, or over-studying.

3. Take your classes seriously.

Senior year is still school, and as much as it sucks to wake up and go everyday, it still matters. The worst will be when you get accepted into college (especially if you earn early admission), you will dread waking up and going to school everyday. A word of warning: you still need to study, you still need to do the homework, and you still need to apply yourself. That college wants your final transcript which will have your last semester grades on it, and they can revoke your acceptance if you fail a class, don't take that chance.

4. If you have the grades and the time, apply Early Admission.

From personal experience, this was a lifesaver. Not knowing where you're going to spend your life for the next four years can be terrifying, so get those college visits in now and over the summer, make time to write your essays and resume, and apply early admission. Knowing where I was going by Christmas was the best thing (and the biggest sigh of relief) I got this year.

5. Enjoy it.

You'll never get to go back to high school, and while they may not have been the best years of your life, they are some of the most formative. You're almost finished, why not have fun? Join a great club, make new friends try an elective you never have before, go do things with the friends you won't see everyday next year, live.