After reading the last issue of the Cougar Clause, I found myself dismayed by the absence of the normal “Yay, I’m a mature senior and I’ve learned so much” editorials, so I figured someone needs to write one to keep up with the tradition!

That someone, however, will not be yours truly. For the past three years, everyone made such a big fuss over the senior year of high school that I just couldn’t wait for it to arrive. This year has not been as glitzy and glamorous as I had envisioned it though. This is supposed to be one of the most memorable years of our lives. The one where we all wave goodbye and get ready to charge out into the real world.

So far, I’ve found my senior year to be one of nothing but stress and frustration. For starters, failure is not an option this year. If I fail a vital class this year, I have to repeat it the next year--which would make me a second-year senior. An “encore” appearance is not appealing to colleges.

This year is also quite financially trying on those of us who pay our own senior bills. By senior bills, I mean cap and gown, class ring if still needed, senior pictures, graduation announcements, senior trip, and all of the other added expenses that come with being at the top of the school.

People then use that senior title to imply that we’re supposed to have matured tremendously and grown wise in three years. While it is true that we mature some, none of us are truly the adults people try to make us out to be with the “You’re older, you should set the example” scheme. Trying to be a good example, while carrying the added weight of keeping grades up and keeping in touch with friends at the same time is just too much at times, and the need to release it through silliness becomes a necessity just to keep from breaking.

With real-life looming just over the next hill, we also have to worry about what will happen from here. Will we ever see our friends again? What will everyone else be moving on to? None of us can tell for sure what the future will hold for us, but we all have the same anxiety over it.

While being a senior does have some advantages, like being able to eat on the patio and having some degree of respect from the underclassmen, the stress and frustration of the year makes these little merits seem like nothing special. While we have all of our added extras this year, we rarely get the time to enjoy them. To all of the underclassmen, I wish you luck and hope that your senior experience is better than mine has been. After being here for a few weeks, I can tell you that this senior thing is not all that it is cracked up to be.

Andrew Eanes is the news editor for Cougar Clause. He is a senior, and this is his seventh semester on staff.