by Briana Applewhite ’13

It’s senior year! The happiest time in a high-schooler’s life comes with easy classes, low attendance standards and fun. Junior year was misery, filled with anxiety and crying yourself to sleep, and now you’re a senior and in the clear. Guess again.

Dear freshmen, sophomores and juniors, first semester of senior year has been the equivalent of pulling every single hair out of my head, then dousing my scalp with alcohol. Okay, maybe the hyperbole is a bit much, but you get the picture. Sure, seniors can drive to school and have more freedom, but the college application process overshadows these perks. Filling out application after application to College A, B, C, D and E has become my worst nightmare. Essay questions that strive to “get to know you” and assess “what your ultimate career goal and aspirations are” might just kill me, for real. I’m just counting down the days until January 1, the universal deadline for applications that marks the end of the overwhelming process and the start of a real life again.

On top of the application process, it’s difficult to maintain a hefty school schedule while participating in various extracurriculars. Sports, volunteering, work and school clubs, plus the college application process, is amounting to hours of lost sleep and a very stressed-out Briana. I’m actually jealous of the slackers that still have the stereotypical “senior” attitude. You know the ones I’m talking about: the students who plan on doing absolutely nothing this year besides showing up on the graduation stage on June 11. But, I digress.

I thought senior year was supposed to be a cruise until May, when I could finally leave this purgatory that is school. Instead, it’s become the most dreadful year of my high school career. I cannot wait for the day when I’m accepted into college and this daunting process is over. Trust me, I’m already counting down the days.