Entering your senior year is a day that every first-year dreams of, one which promises a world full of opportunity, a year of partying and getting to finally attend Send-Off as a senior. At least, this was how I viewed senior year to be as a freshman at Kenyon. However, now that the tables have turned I have become a senior myself, I have been increasingly flooded with a variety of different emotions. Some days I am excited to see where I will end up, while other days I am fearful of the future; I worry if I will get into graduate school or get a job. At times, it feels like a test score will determine my future more than the numerous hours spent studying in my dorm. However, through this rollercoaster of emotions, I have chosen to embrace the coming change.
Like many students, I am extremely goal-oriented and the thought of not achieving success is my worst-case scenario. As I approach November of my final year of undergraduate, however, I began to look back on my Kenyon career thus far. I found, in looking back on my college career, that the majority of my time, was spent either stressing over doing work, stressing over not doing work, or stressing over the work to come. It seemed that while I was caught up in my fear of not getting As and possibly obtaining glowing recommendations, I forgot to sit back and smell the roses.
It was at this moment that I decided that my last year was not going to be the same as my previous Kenyon years. Certainly, I knew I was going to face stress as I begin to fill out graduate school applications and wait to hear back on possible job offers. This year is not going to be easy, but my approach to Senior Year can hopefully make it more enjoyable. I only have one year left with the people I have spent the majority of the past four years of my life with, and there will never again be a time wherein we all live in the same home or can sit around a table after making last-minute dinner plans. These are the moments I want to remember because I do not want to look back on my college career only to feel like I missed out on that promised “best part of my life.”
I have chosen to make time for friends at the expense of planning my days in advance and around assignments. I now hang out with friends or go out drinking far more than I ever have in my years at Kenyon. While some people may see this as “senioritis,” it’s really just me trying to make the most of the little time I have left with the people I love. If there’s anything I want underclassmen to know, it’s that you need to stop and look around every once in a while. These four years will fly by in the blink of an eye, and one day you will find yourself a senior. Cherish the good times, the hard times, but most of all, make the most of your four years on the Hill.
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