This is it. This is what you’ve been waiting for. Attending the same high school, going through the same routine each day. After years of torture and pain, this is what you’ve been working hard for. All of the stress and anxiety has lead up to this one moment. You’re finally at the top; you’re a senior.

Everyone at some point has felt superior, whether that is going through years of schooling and finally being able to sit in the back of the bus as a 5th grader, or having the opportunity to go to Six Flags the last day of 8th grade, almost any person can say that he/she has reached the pinnacle and felt a sense of entitlement. But, nothing compares to being a senior in high school. You’re given the opportunity to go on various field trips and experience lots of activities you thought seemed years away.

While there are many perks to being a senior, there are also many stressful decisions a person is expected to handle while still not having the comprehension of what those choices entail.  Senior year means being legally still a child while being forced and confronted to make critical adult decisions that affects the rest of their lives.

At the age of seventeen, I am expected to take college credit classes while maintaining an acceptable GPA, while taking a copious amount of ACTs to earn the perfect score, while having a job to save up for college, and while participating in after school activities. The goal is to form a perfect resume in order to get into the college of your choice. If that isn’t hard enough, I’m told that my choice of decisions will affect how my entire life will turn out.

As a senior, a student is expected to have already come to a conclusion regarding what they want to do after they graduate. Most kids don’t even know who they are at this point, so how are they supposed to determine what they are destined to do for the rest of their lives? Teenage years are confusing as it is with hormone changes and an ever-complex world. During the years of rapid physical growth and psychological changes occurring, a person is concurrently expected to have their whole life planned out start to finish.

As a senior, you have one foot in the door of something completely familiar and comfortable and one foot out venturing out into the world of unknown. It’s this weird in between of being ready to try something new and being extremely nervous for what the future holds.

There is too much responsibility left on the individual. Colleges are judging you based on numbers rather than your personality or your worth ethic. With giant expectations, senior year is a confusing time.

Many students are making money through their part-time jobs but still rely on their parents to financially support their necessities including a car payment, phone bill, and other basic essentials. Seniors are expected to fend for themselves next year, but still have the umbrella of their parents protection. They are still expected to follow various rules their parents have set for them such as a curfew, but at the same time have to decide if they should move to a different state without their families to attend college. I am still under my parents rule, but little by little I am going to have the freedom to make decisions regarding everyday occurrences. Something needs to be done to stop this constant stress. Parents, teachers, bosses and coaches need to stop expecting so much out of us. We are people and can only do so much without feeling like we are going to explode.

Senior year is a confusing, stressful time. Instead of having the chance to enjoy it, we are stuck here worrying about if we are going to have enough practices to compete in the first competition, or wondering if we can balance all of the AP courses we are taking in order to go to the college of our choice. Our responsibilities are piling up and we are left drowning without anyone to save us. I’m not saying we should be let off easy, because next year no matter how much we fight we will be leaving home to venture off into the world of unknown.

All I’m saying is that we should be cut some slack when we turn in a homework assignment late or can’t make it into work because we have four tests the next day. It’s not a big deal if we have to skip a practice or two because of excessive tiredness. The focus should be more on the individual, rather than getting all of your work in on time. Senior year should be a fun time where you are given the opportunity to make the best of the time you have left. You should be able to enjoy it instead of piling on the excessive clubs just to fill up your resume.

So sit back, do the best you can and enjoy time that you have left, because frankly, this is it.