Senior year is a weird year. It’s officially our last year of high school, which is also our last year that we’re considered teenagers, despite the fact that our teachers hold us to the same standards as they do adults. Which is understandable, because as each day passes we’re getting closer and closer to the day we graduate and get thrust into the world as adults. It’s weird, because we aren’t getting rushed to abandon our youth and grow up, but at the same time we totally are, just not intentionally.

We don’t really talk about it outside of making memes out of it or something, nor do we even think of it as something important enough to discuss at length. Some people don’t like to even think about it. It’s not like this a completely serious issue that should be talked about everywhere, but it is interesting to think about.

Are we afraid of getting old or something? Do we fear that once we get out of high school, all of our memories from our youth, from daycare days to our last day of senior year, are going to disappear right before our eyes? Why are we simultaneously excited and reluctant to leave our high school nest?

My main point here is that we should relax and ride the wave of senior year. We shouldn’t feel rushed to grow up, nor should we expect ourselves to be fully prepared for whatever the world has in store for us once we’re really in it.

I’m just as eager to get out of high school and finally see what college life is all about as everyone else is, but sometimes I have to remind myself to appreciate my final year of high school. If I rush through it, I won’t be able to remember all the past laughs and other good memories that I’ve had all throughout high school, and that would eventually lead to me not remembering high school at all.

Treat every day of high school as one small step closer to adulthood. You don’t have to have an amazing experience every step of the way, but just appreciate the little things at least. People who didn’t do that start to wish that they did more or less during their high school days, or realize that they were so ready to grow up and leave this school that they didn’t appreciate or experience certain things in their lives. I want to remember at least one good thing from my time as a youth, and I want everyone else to have that ability as well.