Senior year, semester two. It’s romanticized in every modern coming-of-age story.  Second semester means you are living the last of your lasts. Last school dance, last home game, last winter carnival, last pep rally, first and last prom. And the hardest one for me, the last State Destination Imagination competition. Every senior has been touched by senioritis (some caught it during freshman year). Left and right your classmates are getting accepted into college. It’s exciting for everyone, but also hard because it means we are about to leave everything we know. It’s an interesting experience and completely complicated to sort through. The “yes . . ., but . . .” sentiments come in waves.

Yes, ever since I was 14 I have yearned to be 18; I have dreamed about being on my own. I have ached for freedom and independence after these last four years. But now that I almost have it . . . is it what I really want?

Yes, I like the comfort of my home, going home every night and being greeted by my pet, but I’m also tired of seeing the same restaurants, the same people, and our similar schedules.

Yes, Presque Isle can be amazing, but only if you are with the right people.

Yes, High school hasn’t been a paradise.  Let’s be honest.  I have always had a small group; it was my three friends and myself: my girls. But, as happens over the course of high school, we grew apart.  There was drama. I’ve found ways to cope with the change in my social dynamic.  Yes, I’m not a unique high school kid, really.  We’ve all been through this, in some way.  But for the last two years, I’ve really felt the hardship of the aftershock. I’ve been working and studying and reading big fat books to get rid of my loneliness.  Yes, my boyfriend brought me to movies and took me out to dinners and school events. But I’m excited for college because I can finally create a new group: I’ll have my girls again.

Yes, part of me is scared to leave because that means leaving my family and pretty much everything I’ve known, but I’m also scared to stay because I want to see what’s out there.

Yes, I want more than my hometown, and that’s okay.

Yes, senior year has been crazy and busy. I work 24 hours a week, I have two to four hour practices three times a week, I balance school, relationships and family time. But, again, I’m not a unique kid.

Yes high school goes by quickly, and it always has for me, but senior year goes by in a blink of an eye. My advice to anyone entering their senior year or just going through high school: Don’t wish it away. I did and now I’m wishing I had more time, more time to watch my brother’s games and watch movies with my dad. More time to cherish the friends I once had.

Yes, I know it sounds cliché, but even if we don’t want to admit it, adults know what they are talking about.

Senior year, semester two. Yes, it will probably result in at least one emotional breakdown a week, but time is slipping away, we have no idea what’s next. Hold on, we are so close.

Yes, if you have no idea what you’re doing it’s okay to breathe, yes, for the past four years we have drowned in assignments and projects. Yes, it’s time to cherish ourselves and the little time we have left.