Senior Year - And So It Begins

Senior year is supposed to be the best gosh darn thing to happen in a teenager’s life.

I’ve heard all of the stories: How senior year is a time to slack off, a time to have fun, and a time to make the most out of the last few months you’ll have with the people you probably won’t ever see again after high school.

I’ve been told, “Enjoy it, Alyssa, because you’ll be wearing that cap and gown before you know it.”

I spent my summer anticipating this fantastic year. Some of my closest friends filled me in on everything I needed to know, a sort of Senior Year 101, if you will. My schedule was already in the works with some of the classes I was told I’d enjoy with the teachers I was told I’d love. As I tearfully said goodbye to my college-bound friends, I embraced the idea of my final year even more. Next year I’d be like them, leaving my adolescence at the main entrance of Rockville High School and stepping into adulthood at the college of my choice (hopefully). All that stood between me and my future was one, measly year of high school.

My radio alarm blared some mainstream pop song in my ear at 5:30 am on Friday, September 2. I did my normal morning routine, trying to make myself presentable for this important landmark of a year. I usually dread first days, but I won’t lie — I was kind of excited this time.

I mean, it’s senior year. I couldn’t stop saying it to myself. I’m a senior. I’m a senior. I’m a senior.Every high school student dreams of this day, and it was finally here. I grabbed my backpack, got into my minivan (yes, I drive a minivan. Problem?)  and headed to good old RHS. I ignored the usual chaos of the parking lot and walked up the student entrance with a smile. Here I was, entering the building as a senior for the very first time.Have you ever gotten one of those birthday presents that looked like it was going to be huge, but it actually ended up being something really small? Like, a big box was used as a diversion, and all you really got was something small and minor?

That was what the first day of senior year was for me. I walked into that school, opening one of the biggest presents I’d ever seen, and all I found was a lot of tissue paper. I had built up my first day back so much that it could have never met my expectations. My excitement slowly dissipated as I walked down red hall and glanced at the familiar row of red lockers. Reality set in, and it felt like I had never even had the past two months off. I squeezed my way through the crowds of freshmen who huddled in the middle of the hallways until I realized that I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t meet up with my best friends in their usual orange hall morning powwow.

They were off at college. 

It’s hard to accept that everything is essentially the same about school this year. Sure, there are a few additions to the faculty, a lot of the teachers switched classrooms, and the entire class of 2011 has been replaced with the class of 2015, but everything is pretty much the same. This huge, beautifully wrapped present — my senior year - is just an empty box.While that seems kind of upsetting I’ve decided that there’s not much I can do but make the best of it, now. Those people who tell you that senior year flies by? They’re probably right. I’m probably going to wake up tomorrow morning and be graduating already.

So my first day wasn’t anything exceptional. Who cares? It’s really starting to hit me - I’m a senior. This is my last year with the class of 2012, and I’m going to make the best of it. I’m not going to let some lame first day ruin the rest of my year.

On graduation day, on the day I start college, even on the day I turn 35, I’m going to look back on this day and laugh at how stupid I was for being disappointed. It sounds cliché, but it’s true. So right now, I’m thanking the universe for my gigantic empty box, because by the end of the year, I fully intend on having it overflowing with memories.