Senior year. The words alone carry a certain weight, a feeling that sits somewhere between excitement and sadness. It’s a year of so many amazing experiences, but also the year you close the chapter. It is full of celebration and achievement, yet each moment has that little reminder that this is the last time.
The first day of classes was also the last first day. The first swim meet of the season was also my last first meet. The first night out with friends was also the last first party. Every beginning this year comes with a small pain, because for every first, there is now a finality attached to it. Senior year turns ordinary moments into small milestones, ones that you just want to hold on to for a little longer, knowing they will not come again.
Everything seems to carry more meaning now. A casual Tuesday night with friends feels like a memory in the making. Walking across campus feels different now, like every corner, every laugh, and every familiar face is worth noticing just a little more. There is something strange in knowing that something so familiar will soon become something to miss.
Yet there is something beautiful about this season of lasts. Because endings, as bittersweet as they are, make room for beginnings. After this year, a new set of firsts will happen: a first real job, a first apartment, a first-time navigating life completely on my own. These next firsts will not replace the old ones but will be just as exciting, carrying the lessons and memories of everything that came before.
This year I want senior year to be about appreciating the time I have, not about the time ending.