First semester senior sunrise.
Three weeks ago, senileitis hit me.
I am less concerned about completing assignments and procrastinating than ever before. With less than a week left, you only have a few days to complete everything you’ve been putting off.
Other than the current stress of completing assignments and the anticipation of ending my high school career in just a few days, my senior year has been incredible.
August – I’m starting my fourth year and I didn’t expect it to be so different from my third year. I wasn’t worried because I knew my schedule would be very simple and filled with easy classes with friends. Little did I know, I was about to start considering filling out college applications, which turned out to be far more stressful than I expected.
September – September had its highlights: football games, Chicago, college applications, senior camp. It was an unforgettable night watching the football game with friends in the front row of the FHC student section. I traveled to Chicago on Labor Day and watched the Tigers defeat the White Sox. I haven’t traveled much in 2023, so it was fun to take a weekend trip to Chicago. It was a short break from reality to work on college applications. I started researching and started focusing on college, but more importantly, I started working on one of the most important essays of my life, the college application essay. The senior retreat was a fun day with my classmates. I didn’t have the option to be with my friends to complete the activities so I didn’t have much fun, but most of the day was pretty fun. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to have more fun than I did back then.
October – College admission took over my life. All of my time outside of school and homework was spent applying to college, especially writing essays. I spent far more time on my essay than on any other essay I’ve ever written. The classes I took in high school weren’t all that impressive, and my SAT scores weren’t all that impressive, so I thought my essays had to be good to make up for my class and test scores. Ta. I wrote my essay through challenges that are unique to me and that most other people have to endure. Mr. George helped me fine-tune it and prepared it for me to submit to all the universities I belong to. Applies to Halloween was at the end of October. I went with my best friend for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and continued the tradition of her coming over and going trick-or-treating, but this time was the last time.
November and December – These months were kind of a blur. Not much has happened these past few months. My horse sustained a severe tendon injury and was given a minimum of 6 months of stall rest and a minimum of 1.5 years of recovery. I went from riding five days a week and working with him to not riding at all. During my winter vacation, I went on a beautiful Caribbean cruise. I met Nikola Jokic on a plane without knowing anything and had no idea who he was until someone explained to me who he was. He received his acceptance letter to Michigan State University on December 9th. Well, a lot of small big things happened.
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We had a very nice evening spending time with friends.
January and February – January marked the beginning of my final semester of high school. The first semester passed so quickly that I couldn’t believe that I was almost graduating from elementary school. After receiving acceptances from several other universities, I ultimately chose Michigan State University and made the decision. I had a cake making contest with some friends. Nora and I were partners. While we walked around a bit, the other team sabotaged the cake by pouring hot sauce on it. My friends and I had a Galentine’s Day party and it was so much fun. It was my first time attending Winterfest. Although I had a little trouble taking pictures, the rest of the night was one of the most enjoyable nights of my life. We had a very nice evening spending time with friends.
March – I turned 18 years old. It was no different than when she was 17 years old. Some things have changed in my relationship with my parents, but not as dramatically as I expected. For my birthday, my mother and Eva Ackermann surprised me with a sushi lunch at Mr. Fischer’s room. It was an incredibly heartwarming surprise. I wasn’t planning on doing anything with my friends for my birthday since it was right before spring break, but this surprise made my 18th birthday special.
April – It’s almost over, but other than being way behind on schoolwork, it was one of the best months of my senior year. One of the highlights she said was being contacted by someone she thought she would never see or hear from again. I would be so happy if I put REM’s song “The End of the World (As We Know It)” in my Instagram notes. He informed me that he loves REM. Everything from there was really great and I had never done anything like that before. I’m happier. It was my first time attending prom, but last year I was suspended so I wasn’t able to attend. It was honestly quite a pain to go dress shopping, but it was worth it when I found the perfect dress. Prom night was one of the best nights ever. I went from location to location, took pictures with my friends, and made so many beautiful memories that I’ll never forget. The dance itself could have been more embellished, but overall it was a fun dance. My senior prom went exactly as I had imagined. Later, when I went to a friend’s house, I immediately fell asleep. I also had Covid for the first time and it was pretty miserable.
May – Tomorrow is May. It’s my last day of high school in 6 days. I’ll be graduating in 13 days.
My senior year went by so quickly that I didn’t even have time to realize how amazing and special this year was. Thank you to everyone who made this year the best year yet.
Kya, FHC.
– Olivia Rainey
