I remember the first day I walked through the doors of Bel Air High School as a freshman. It was completely different from the middle school, which I had finally acclimated myself to for three years. Now I’m here, in the second semester of my junior year, focusing on colleges, SATs and GPAs.

Now back in ninth grade, in my Journalism 1 class, Mr. Blackburn had us write a feature story on our view and opinion of senior year. Back then my journalistic skills weren’t the sharpest, but I still had my opinions. I mentioned the festivities that the seniors got to take place in, including prom, senior trip, spirit week, and graduation.

Thinking about this now, I guess I still have a similar opinion, but being here now, witnessing three more years, there is a lot more that goes into it.

Junior year is meant to be the most important year of your high school career. Realizing all of this now puts a lot of pressure onto a sixteen year old girl. Yes, I want to get into a good college. And yes, I want to have a great career, but the stakes are high. As I witness some of my friends who are seniors get accepted into colleges, and committing, and realizing what they want to do, makes me very happy for them but also very excited for me. In just one short year, I’m going to be in that position.

Senior year can be a scary thought. Choosing a college, a major, keeping your GPA, maybe having a job, and still managing to attend extracurricular activities is difficult. This may sound a tad cliché, but high school in itself is a job, and a hard one at that. I tend to get stressed with anything and everything (something I need to work on), so it’s going to be hard juggling it all.

In reality, high school really is the best four years of your life, but in the moment you probably don’t realize it. Senior year you’re the “alpha” in the building and you get to participate in more activities. So while I am stressed now, in one short year it’s all going to be worth it. Just remember, you can let out all your stress on your senior trip, screaming at the top of your lungs, going down that deep slope on the roller coaster. Or on prom night, when you dance the night away with your friends and then have a little bit more fun at Bel Air Athletic club for the after party. Let yourself be stressed now, because it’s all going to be worth it in the end.