So you’re a senior, huh? A second semester senior? And it’s April, and the ball of college admission is in your court? Well, congrats, first of all - you made it! Or, at least, you’ve almost made it. But the stress of will-I-get-in is finally over, one way or another, and now you’ve got one month to weigh your options in a fierce college-on-college battle I lovingly referred to as April Madness, back in the spring of 2014, wherein you will choose your school and make one of the most exciting and stressful decisions of your entire life. Don’t worry though - I’m not, at least in this blog post, going to freak you out about the things you should and shouldn’t consider about school x versus school y during this month. You’ll get enough of that from your peers and your parents and your guidance counselor and that little voice inside your head during this whole month. Instead, I’d like to look forward into the end of your senior year, to offer some advice, some nostalgia, and some general thoughts. In other words, What to Expect When You’re Expecting to Graduate.
Ok, full disclosure here: there’s not a whole lot I can really say to you in this little blog post that would be overarchingly chord-striking with every individual who reads it. Considering you all hypothetically come from very diverse schooling backgrounds, I can’t offer some golden piece of advice that would be as helpful to a public school kid from New Jersey (this is me) as it would be to a home-schooled kid from a small town in northern England (this is my friend. Daisy, do you read my blogs? Hello!).
But what I can say is this: have a freaking great time. Second semester senior year, post-college decision (and especially the summer that comes after it), is one of the rare times in your life where you can just relax in being totally free of academic obligations. Because think about it: there’s no summer school work to do, and you probably won’t be working at some major-oriented internship, considering you’ve yet to even officially declare. So all you have to do is maintain your general academic standing until June, graduate, and enjoy yourself until August or September when you start the shiny new part of your life.
Out of ideas on how to enjoy yourself? Allow me to provide some. You could: take naps every day after school; go out to dinner with your friends on a weeknight; go to an amusement park; wear your pajamas to school; go crazy in preparation for senior prom; plan a summer road trip; buy a lottery ticket (I did this on my 18th birthday in June. I lost, of course, but it was very adult of me); hang out with your parents, siblings, pets, or all of the above; read several books; pick up a new TV show; get really into Stanley Kubrick movies (speaking from personal experience); learn a programming language; learn origami; watch episodes of SpongeBob you haven’t seen in years; etc., etc., etc.
Yea, I’m feeling nostalgic. Spring break, fleeting as always, just ended, and I’m on a train back up to Boston as I write these words. And as much as I love school, I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t miss the days before Tufts when I had no obligations and a full tank of gas and a whole summer ahead of me. So soak it all in. Enjoy sleeping in your bed and showering without flip flops on, but, of course, stay excited for the adventures that are to come.
But I guess you have to choose which school to go to first. Happy April!