WIL #1: The Second Semester Myth

WIL. What I’ve Learned. The past four years of high school have been quite the adventure. Here is what I have learned over the roller coaster of high school; sympathizing with students my age and preparing students for what is to come.

I used to watch second-semester seniors spend their days parading around school without a care in the world. They used to tell me of the glories of second-semester life, so I began looking forward to it. The semester of endless fun, easy As and do-nothing Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, only to not show up on Friday.

Since the beginning of senior year I have been telling myself: “Gotta make it to January, gotta make it to January.” I was under the impression that, come second semester, all stress will lift and I will be home free. That was a myth.

Well it is February and I am more stressed than ever. The stress is no longer “I have to get an A, I have to understand this concept,” it’s “come on, I just need a C to pass.” Combine this with the motivation to do anything but homework after school, and it is a recipe for failure. I am constantly striving for another creative outlet other than a ten step calculus problem with symbols that read like a foreign language to keep me busy.

Senioritis is real. It happens to everyone and the disease spreads uncontrollably. While senioritis occurs, school may or may not get harder (I am either getting lazier or my classes are getting harder, not really sure). Every morning I fight to lift my head off the pillow and I fight to keep my eyes from drooping in class. But with each passing day the fight gets harder.

I spent the last four years killing myself with stress; literally taking years off of my life in an attempt to succeed. Spending so much time studying that I forget to eat right and exercise– three years. Staying up until the wee-hours of the morning–probably five years. Stressing out over every little grade and extracurricular– four years. And of course, just being in school, at least 12 years.

I am over it. I bent over backward, did flips; ran miles all to get an A, make a difference and get into college. It’s February and I feel as though I have accomplished all of the above and now it’s time for a 4-month sabbatical until college starts in September.

Each day is an achievement. A celebration of what I have accomplished over my school career and merely a miracle that I even made it to school.

This is coming from the girl who loved nothing more than school for the past 17 years. I love learning, I love helping others and I love keeping busy. Now, though, I want to attend school my way. Not at seven a.m. and not studying topics which I will never use in my career. I want school to be fun and engaging, where I can spend days doing creative and inspiring things. My calling is no longer in the classroom; I am now driven to plan events like Senior Picnic and Prom, produce an award-winning newspaper, and help other students get through their next four years themselves.

There was a time when I used to read and take notes on every word from cover to cover in the APUSH book; now, I am just struggling to force my brain to think in terms of the Java computer programming language and trying to comprehend calculus, which is a whole other language in itself.

But with June 5 approaching quickly, we should make the most of our time left. As we fight to wake up every morning, struggle to work up the motivation to do homework or study for a test, remember: come June 5 we may never walk through the MPSH doors again. Make those final impressions to leave your mark on Palmetto.