Two of our seniors tell us what being a senior is really like
2022 seniors on their first day of school before the customary parade began. Photo Credits: Renata Terán
Responsibilities and stress. This is basically how Martina Schutze and Renata Teran summed up their first quarter as seniors. For them, the changes they experienced when becoming a senior are a big deal. You might think that it’s only a change of uniform, but it’s so much more.
Since summer, seniors have been working on their applications non-stop, knowing they had until November 1st to send them in. However, this is not their only responsibility. Martina Schütze states, “We have to balance school work, applications, and social life.” Like in everything else, balance is key, but “it’s too much,” according to Renata Terán.
Martina Schütze on her first day as a senior. Photo Credits: Martina
Along with the responsibilities comes pressure, especially from parents. According to Martina and Renata, it’s common to have a fear of not getting accepted into certain colleges. The fear isn’t only to be accepted, but starts with sending the perfect application essay.
What stresses these two seniors out more, however, is school work. On top of applications and their social lives (their favorite part), they have hundreds of homework assignments with strict due dates. Martina mentions that one of the reasons that it stresses her most is because she never knows when she’s going to be assigned school work. On the other hand, she does know when she has to turn in all her applications.
This burden of work leads to stress and feeling overwhelmed. What do these seniors do to cope with this? Well, Renata just cries and Martina says that “there’s no time to cope.” They believe that school should help them more to help alleviate all this stress. Although they have dedicated senior work days, community time, and feedback sessions with Ms. Ferrey, it’s still not enough. These two seniors feel a bit ignored and wish that the school should assign seniors less homework and pay more attention to their requests.
Renata Terán with her pet. Photo Credits: Renata Terán
Getting into their dream colleges and balancing responsibilities is their top priority, but they still manage to fill their time with activities that make them happy. Martina and Renata feel that the best part about being a senior is their social life and freedom. This 100% is what helps them to alleviate their stress, they say. Even though some wish that there could be more school activities and privileges that could bring back school spirit, small gatherings outside of school will do for now.