As the weather warms up, summer approaches. Which, ultimately, is the end of high school for seniors. With the endings and new beginnings, seniors can reflect on their past year. The last year of high school is supposed to be one that they will remember and cherish as they go on in life. Senior year, the best year of high schoolers’ lives, people say. Senior year is said to be the year everything is fun and easy going, but is senior year really everything it is said to be? What is it really?

Some students do have a great time their last year. From scheduling easier classes to the rush of leaving high school, senior year can be everything it’s said to be. 

“I mean, it’s been pretty fun. I don’t really like school, but it’s really easy for me this year. Most of my classes are electives, and I have two study halls to work on stuff. I only have one core class; I just have math. I think the senior project is kind of lame. But other than that, I think it’s pretty fun,” senior Nicholas Giovengo said. 

So, students can lighten the load for themselves by taking easier classes, which can help relieve stress. But many seniors also take challenging classes to prepare themselves for what they want to do later in life. Senior Dakota Reinhart took difficult classes to push herself, and she even suggested the same path for others. 

“I would suggest trying to get in as many classes as you can. Just so that you don’t have to take them later in college,” Reinhart said. 

Going along with difficult classes, many seniors tend to find their last year to be exhausting. Some even mention having “senoritis,” which Dictionary.com describes as a decline in motivation or academic performance that supposedly afflicts some seniors in high school, especially in their last term.

“It can be really easy to get unmotivated to do your work towards the end. You just want it to be done and over with,” Rienhart said. 

This feeling can add to the stressfulness of an already stressful year.

“Senior year is not as exciting as everybody always said it would be. There’s a lot of work with our senior project. It’s really stressful, and I have really bad senioritis,” senior Megan Jones said. 

Many students feel the same, especially about the senior project. 

“The senior project has become increasingly stressful, as I continue to delay my completion of it. It’s really hard for me to complete the job shadow because I don’t know any engineers to shadow,” senior David Denkovich said.  

However, many can agree that even though the project is stressful, it is beneficial. 

“The project has been very beneficial in figuring out what I want to do after high school with the job shadow and college visit requirements. It’s been a little stressful as the due dates approach, though!,” senior Brandi Bonzo said. 

Many also feel that the year moves at a more rapid pace than a normal year. 

“It’s been about the same as the other three years, but it feels like it’s a lot more rushed than the other years because of having the senior project and graduation to worry about,” senior Evan Blinn said. 

Along with all of this, college and future decisions can also lay heavily on students. However, no matter what each senior feels about their last year, most can’t deny the bittersweet feeling of leaving high school. 

“It’s exciting to see all of the endings. They make me feel a little sad, but it’s kind of relieving to see that I still have the friends I made in high school, even after all the endings,” senior Finley Paxton said.