The alarm goes off. It’s merely the beginning of fall and September has rolled around, yet again, marking the start of a new school year. You pry yourself out of bed, head to the shower, eat breakfast, and go about your habitual morning routine, except something is different–off. It’s as if the past three years flashed before your sleepy eyes and Bang! The realization begins to set in that senior year is among us. Thoughts begin to pile on into a lump sum of mole hills crowding your head space: Deadlines, AP courses, SAT’s, college, majors, post-secondary plans, careers, and so much more. Stress takes its course and many students start to feel overwhelmed by it all, but there is hope. Setting yourself up for a successful senior year is possible and doable, even if you have started off feeling like you are on the wrong foot. 

Planning and organizing:

One of the best tools to use to maintain sanity during this stressful time, especially when thinking about college, is to plan. When we organize ourselves, this will warrant us to feel less anxious and worrisome about the tasks in which we need to complete. Just having everything written down will relieve some pressure. Then there is no worry about forgetting anything whilst trying to juggle all dates, deadlines, ideas, schoolwork, and personal life thoughts inside your head like a circus act. It is also important to know that we have so many resources just at the tips of our fingers. 

Guidance Counselors are Your Best Friends:

Reaching out to a guidance counselor or teacher can be super useful during this time, all of them have gone through the process and definitely understand it from our perspective. Our counselors are like built-in college helpers, who are here to get us through the college application process. Along with that, there are also tons of online resources and college search tools that are provided for us to use to our advantage such as Naviance, Common App, CollegeBoard, CollegeHunch, SchollySearch, and so many more. Utilizing in even just one of these tools is going to be beneficial.

Have Fun:

Most importantly,  don’t forget to just let loose and have some fun this year because it is our last hurrah! Often, we, as seniors, get so caught up in all that there is to get done, that when we finally take a breath, most of the year has passed. Therefore, prioritize time to spend with friends and really soak up every last moment. Be sure to leave time for yourself once in a while even if it is just a few minutes to debrief. Regardless of where we all end up, this is our last year together. The homes we have built for the past four years are going to change; we will not get to walk down these same hallways forever, so be mindful of this. Be sure to make every last second count!