Is it just me or is life going at 100 mph? I feel like a million different things are being thrown at me from a variety of directions and I don’t know which one to focus on first, or how to focus on just one.
I didn’t know senioritis was a real thing, until now. In September, I was on fire, ready to bang out senior year. Then, I realized what I had just entered wasn’t any normal school year. This was my last school year at Malden High School. This was the year I had to apply to college and decide where the rest of my life was headed. Here I am, months later, admitting to you that I’m completely worn out.
Don’t get me wrong, leaving MHS will be hard. But I’m tired of the routine, like many seniors probably are. (Hopefully no underclassmen are tired yet!) There are less than 90 days left until graduation (yes, I have a countdown app) and I am ready. It’s nothing that I particularly don’t like about MHS. In fact, I love my school and I look forward to coming here every day. I’m just exhausted with the same routine that all high schoolers deal with, not just us Golden Tornadoes.
Even over school vacations students are drowning in assignments. Or how about this. This year, on one of our very few snow days, my phone buzzed and I checked it only to be disappointed. It was a notification for assignments my teacher had put on Google Classroom. This is nothing personal about my teachers either. It’s just the nature of our country. We move too fast. We don’t get any time for breaks or rest. Even on a snow day, assignments need to be turned in by 11:59 p.m. via Google Classroom. (I was a fan of our school’s new savvy technology system until this happened.)
If it isn’t an academic demand, there’s always something else to fill up what could be free time. It’s nice tuning into something you’re passionate about in high school, I actually recommend it. But be ready to take on that responsibility and sacrifice what could have been free time. Whether it be working on the print edition or going to a class officer meeting, I find my afternoons fairly booked. For a majority of students, work or sports, or both, play a factor in their daily lives as well.
It’s almost alien-like to have no extracurriculars at MHS. Some people may suggest to just focus on school, but that’s very un-American. In our country, you’re encouraged to be actively involved in your community. Extracurriculars gives us outlets to put our energy and time into, instead of being lazy or engaging in nonsense, which is why I understand the encouragement of all the seniors at Freshman Orientation to find new people for the cheerleading team, robotics club, and the countless other MHS activities. But this, something meant simply for enjoyment, sadly turns into another responsibility and another slot to fill on your resume.
To be honest, I just want a new routine. Actually, I need it. I’ll most likely be feeling this same way four years from now, but for the time being, I just need a new routine. My mind needs to be refreshed with a different curriculum, different schedule, different campus, different classes. It’s not that I’m expecting college to be a breeze, I’m expecting it to be harder. I know I’ll still have to face the nerve-wracking exams and manage my days for hour long homework assignments, but I’m ready for a new challenge in a new environment.
In closing, I take responsibility for some of my weariness. I’m the one who decided to read 206 pages of a surprisingly good book in two days even though we had two months to read it. So yes, I, and many other seniors suffering from “senioritis,” could make things easier for ourselves if we didn’t procrastinate so often, but all we’re asking for is a real break every once in awhile.
