It goes without saying that us seniors didn’t exactly get the high school ending we thought we’d have after watching “High School Musical 3.” Graduation ceremonies turned into drive-thru lines and prom fits were pushed to the backs of people’s closets. Everything we were told to look forward to for four years (maybe even longer) was postponed and then inevitably canceled, leaving all of us with a lasting sense of unfulfillment.
Yet, here we are, four years later, back where we started. Senior year. One last ride before we have to stop measuring years by grade level and go back to the regular calendar. It seems scary, after everything that happened the last time we were in this position. On top of the regular pressure of graduating college and having to enter the real world, there’s a looming sense of dread that something is going to happen. To be totally honest, I’m terrified. As the great Taylor Swift said in “exile,” I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending.
Despite this, I feel like we can’t just let this opportunity pass us by. Knock on wood, we’ve played our pandemic card for this century, so we should have some sense of normalcy for our second senior year. We owe it to our eighteen-year-old selves to try, don’t we? There are a thousand opportunities to have fun and make memories whenever and wherever you find yourself. Romanticize your life! Go to Colt State and watch the sunset. Drive around Newport with your windows down and music blasting. Go out and get drinks – not you, underclassmen – with classmates, friends, teammates, roommates, or even strangers. (Okay, maybe this is just my checklist, but you get the point I’m trying to make). RWU even sponsors a few senior events, including commencement ball, which basically functions as our second try at a senior prom.
Long story short (another Taylor Swift song, if anyone’s keeping count), don’t waste this year. I know first hand how easy it is to fall into that hater mindset and whine about how it’s still not fair that we only have one when everyone else has had two proper senior years, or that we shouldn’t put ourselves out there because of that ‘what if’ fear. It’s not worth it, not when we have a chance to reclaim some of what we lost. It’s all or nothing, and I’m not leaving with nothing.
I’ll leave y’all with the wise words my mom gave me after we finished moving me in for one final time: Be good, but not too good. Go have fun and make memories.
