Nine Things I Wish I Had Known Before I was a Senior

Senior year, in popular opinion, is the best year. Filled with many exciting events such as last banquets, last tournaments, and graduation. Around this time of the year, ACT scores are stressed about, college applications are sent in, and all the seniors you know are getting themselves prepared to move onto a new era in their lives.
 
You might think, “Those seniors just really have it together. They’re going to college and accomplishing big things, SO PUT TOGETHER.”  Right? Haha. Wrong. You’d think after all that learning and maturing, we’d have it figured out.

We may not be as put together as we need to be, but we have learned a few things along the way.  To help you out, here are nine things we wish we would have known before we were seniors:
 

1. TIME MANAGEMENT: “Well what I wish I knew before I was a senior was that time is everything and if you don’t know how to manage it correctly it will affect senior year badly. Even if you think you have a lot of time on your hands, remember that it can always be used productively.” –Jacqueline Morales, 3-year senior
2. THE ENVIRONMENT: “I wish I would’ve known how much different of an environment this was going to be because I’ve gone to public school my whole life so it was a little bit hard to adjust to at first.” –Stephanie Salinas, 4-year senior
3. DON’T WAIT TO LEARN ABOUT COLLEGE: “I wish I knew more about college. I could have gotten more scholarships if I had studied harder for the ACT before my senior year. I met a lot of sophomores and juniors during college tours and I realized I should have started visiting colleges and looking for the right college for me. You know I didn’t have to wait until my senior year at all.” –Kaname Kaneiwa, 4-year senior
4. SLEEP IS IMPORTANT: “Definitely better sleeping habits. ‘Cause staying up late wrecks you - especially during finals or anything else.” –Carlos Aguiñaga, 2-year senior
5. LEARN THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WORD ‘NO’: “You don’t have to do everything people ask you to. Sometimes it’s okay to say no.” –Tristan Smith, 2-year senior
6. ACT’S: “I wish I would have taken the ACT earlier.” –Yancey Maldonado, 3-year senior
7. DISCIPLINE (AND FAFSA): “Discipline yourself on how to use your time wisely, especially if you have a free period. It’s easy to go take a nap or watch Netflix, but I’ve learned I’d rather get my homework done during a free period than at midnight. Also FILL OUT YOUR FAFSA ASAP. It’s a pain to fill out but it’s super important.” –Sydney Michalenko, 4-year senior
8. FIND YOUR CIRCLE: “You don’t have to be friends with everyone. Four quarters individually are worth as much as 100 pennies.” –Faith Paden, 4-year senior
9. THE PRESSURE: “That there is more pressure than you can handle by yourself.” –Logan Vega, 2-year senior

 
Thankfully, no matter what uncertainties we face in the future, we know we can trust in God to lead us in His plan. “I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future.”  Jeremiah 29:11 ERV

By Faith Paden, Senior, Student Life Editor

Picture source: https://media.giphy.com/media/RIECDaCdxqKha/giphy.gif