Senior Survival Guide: How to have the Best Final Year at MHS

At the beginning of senior year, I remember squirming as the 99th adult asked me to project the next ten years of my life. Where are you going to college? What are you going to major in? What do you want to do with your life? Meanwhile, I hadn't even graduated.

So as the adults described their senior year bliss, I was starting the infamous year feeling frazzled.

To you overwhelmed 12th graders, hopefully some of my senior year survival tips can help you to end the year with success.

Let's start our tips with No. 1: When your head is whirling with advice about classes, college visits, applications and final decisions, weed through all of the input, and choose the path that is right for YOU. This is not as easy as it seems, but if you let your decisions be dictated by your passions, interests and goals, you will make the right choices.

And once you succeed with that, the waiting starts. Waiting to hear back from colleges. Waiting for finals to be over. Waiting to graduate. Waiting for prom, graduation, baccalaureate and gala.

Which leads me to Survival Tip No. 2: Don't spend so much time waiting for the future, that you forget the exciting things happening throughout senior year.

Instead, I hope you take this new chance to:

3. Appreciate old friends on senior privilege adventures (picnic at Summerhill Park).

4. Expand yourself to forge unlikely new friendships.

5. Grow with the confidence to try something different or take a risk.

6. Learn for "learning's" sake, because you're done worrying about college.

7. Love the unscheduled time to spend on your passions (read, play guitar, bake for teachers before progress reports).

8. Share final confessions, compliments, or apologies.

9. Dream of the new goals and changes you want for yourself.

10. Reflect on how lucky you are for the friendships and years that you've had.

As seemingly mundane as it may seem, these senior year opportunities were some of my most treasured parts of the year.

But of course, as it all comes to an end, you'll find yourself hitting those milestones the adults told you about, so here are some tips on those as well.

11. Don't stress about prom. Though a date and table seem important, realize you'll spend the night with your whole class.

12. Girls, wear waterproof mascara to graduation. Boys, offer some hugs.

13. Attend baccalaureate and gala. These are your last chances to be with your class.

And you will want to spend those last moments with your class, because ultimately senior year is as significant as the grownups make it out to be. Maybe in part, because it determines your college, or major, or career. But probably more because of the moments leading up to graduation; appreciating, expanding, growing, learning, loving, sharing, dreaming, reflecting.

When the diploma's in your hand and the hundredth adult asks you "How does it feel?"

14. Answer them honestly, "Excellent."

– Catherine Turvey,
Madison High School Class of 2010