Though this seems like it may be a very cliché topic to address, as I have begun to delve into my senior of high school there have been instances I so wished I could share. And I’m sure much of this is fairly relatable, as well. So, I am going to dive into the thoughts towards seniors of freshman and sophomore Visakha.

As an underclassmen in general, everything is bigger and badder. At least, for me it definitely was. Imagine everything you know now about high school, but in a leather jacket. The senior class was an elusive pack, they did not have the time of day to be bothered with any insignificant “children”. They were the Regina Georges of the clique and school. they seemed to dress the most trendy and the nicest out of any of the classes. You knew most of their names, but they probably didn’t even know you existed. You didn’t see them often, but their presence in the student body was made known.

In the student section, being an underclassman entering the first couple rows was a death sentence and it was clearly understood that you knew your place. The first rows were for those who had earned their right by slaving through four years of high school. As a freshman or sophomore, there is a good chance you sat in the back and did not participate in the madness of the game that was brought on by the upperclassmen. You were that person the seniors were tweeting about when they said, “I can’t believe they don’t even know how to walk in the hallways”. It was almost as if you felt guilty for not knowing the drill, for being such a “newbie” and overall for being an underclassman.

Flash forward to junior year, you're not in the “it” crowd and you still aren’t quite there yet. But by this time (hopefully) you know what’s going on. You have your set group of friends, you’re probably friends with some of the seniors even, but you’ll never be on equal grounds with them. No matter how cool with you or nice of a senior they are, you will never quite reach their level. You’ve started getting closer to the front of the student section at this point and you’re not front row material but you’re getting there. Towards the end of junior year, you start to think “what the heck, how am I almost a senior?” Now you’re here, the year you’ve been anxious to start since first walking through those front doors.

Senior year. It has been so hyped up, it’s as if you felt you would magically *poof* feel different. This is not the case. Walking in on the first day of senior year, you know fewer people than you ever have. It seems like there are masses of underclassmen you don’t know everywhere you look. They are loud and lost and there are so so many of them. You think to yourself, “I don’t blame them for hating us”. Senior year, you care the least what people think out of any year thus far. I had always assumed the seniors were the best dressed and the best looking, which seemed to be true at the time.

Now, I’m lucky if I wear anything other than gym shorts and a tee to school. I’ve gotten my morning routine down pat so I can sleep the most and put in the least amount of effort. You know all the teachers and have superior knowledge about the school. You just don’t care though. Maybe that dismissive attitude held by the upperclassmen was just due to their lack of interest. And FINALLY, you are in the front row of the student section where no one can tell you to move. Football games are so much fun as a senior. You know exactly what to wear for each theme and the cheers have been ingrained in your brain. You have no shame screaming or being outlandish at games because you have earned where you are standing. You are top dog. But now you begin to think, “oh my god, I don’t know what to do with my life” and “high school is almost over and I still can’t make myself meals, how will I survive?”

High school flies by, and if there were one thing I wish I could tell my underclassmen self, it would be to not want to grow up. It is inevitable that you’ll be off to college or making these huge life choices, so enjoy where you're at. Do not try to rush it.