1.Senior year needs to be your easiest year, course-load wise. If you take all AP classes, you will be absolutely out of an effort by the second semester.

2. Take as many dual credit classes or community college classes as you can before so that you will be able to go into college a semester or a year ahead.

3. Senioritis is the most real thing and completely underestimated. It does not just mean that you will not care about things and start slacking off; it means that you will most likely be so mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted that you cannot put forth effort into practically anything.

4. Go to prom. You will regret missing out on typical high school activities, I can guarantee it.

Morally, senior year will stretch you probably beyond your limits. You will be challenged in new ways, whether that be your friends and/or relationships struggling, or the toll that senioritis takes on your mental health. You will likely lose interest and grow out of the things that have taken your time during high school, simply because growth requires sacrifice. Maybe you will grow so close to your family that leaving in a few months scares you more than anything, or maybe tension will grow in your family and the thought of leaving in a few months feels like a relief. You will learn that there are more important things than grades and class ranks and test scores. There is a life to be lived outside of this high school bubble.

Written by Hanna Gaither