It’s finally here. The end of the school year is only sev­eral days away. End of the year finals are approaching and graduation preparations are nearly complete. Every­thing about this time of the year is pretty much the same as the past three years of high school except for one big dif­ference – this year I’m a senior.

It’s a bit odd really think­ing back over my time in high school. For myself as I’m sure for most people, there were weeks in the middle of each year when time seemed to stop and just summer, let alone grad­uation, seemed painfully far away. It was as if high school would never end. I remember the beginning of my freshman year when people (adults) kept telling me that I shouldn’t take time for granted and that before I knew it high school would be over, in the blink of an eye and, I would find myself at the end of my senior year. At that time however I was looking at four years in front of me at PAHS and their words seemed pretty hard to believe. I’d heard all that before and was sure that the next four years would creep by.

I’m actually at that point now and for the first time I’m appreciating what I was told. You get so caught up in the what­ever is going on in your life at the moment that it’s hard to step back and see the years going by. Even though at times it seemed as if the years would never end, looking back it really is true that high school comes and goes without you even realizing it.

High school is a strange time that I think a lot of people don’t appreciate for its signifi­cance in their lives. It’s a time when often you are still treated like a child by many adults, while simultaneously having to make important decisions that could play a significant role in the outcome of your life, such as choosing a university. It’s hard sometimes to balance the fact that you’re young and need guidance from adults in making choices, but also that you don’t have the need to be babied any­more and sometimes all you want is independence, freedom, and to be treated like an adult.

With adulthood comes tremendous responsibility. You have to make smart decisions, work hard, and always realize that everything you are doing, all the work you are putting into school and extracurricular ac­tivities will pay off in the future. I think it’s harder to appreciate that as a freshman or sopho­more, with people telling you that you’ll thank yourself when you’re a senior seems so far in the future. When you’re in your junior year and tests such as the PSAT and the SAT roll around and you begin filling out forms for universities, you start to see why not wiling away your time in high school is so important. However, I think it’s only in your senior year when you’re writing college application essays about yourself and your time in high school that you truly appreciate everything you accomplished over those past four years. It’s then that you’ll thank yourself for all those hours spent working outside of school. It can actually be really rewarding reviewing your time in high school and seeing all that you’ve achieved.

Looking back over my four years here, I can see that one of the most important things dur­ing this time is to always think of the future when you’re work­ing. Sure high school is mo­notonous at times and it can be difficult to see why extend­ing yourself both in and out of school is important. What it is all leading to – in college and beyond is really the point.