The high school experience isn’t something that you can quite put into words. When you are younger, you look up to the high school kids and count down the days until you are in their shoes. They’ll tell you that the time flies by and you’ll never realize it until you are walking out of the school that you just spent the last four to six years at.

The first day of senior year, you feel as if you are on top of the world. You are now the oldest in the school and have earned your way up to having the “senior” title. You can now officially leave the school during free periods and can finally park your car in the front of the building. You’re the loudest and most spirited grade in the school because after all, it’s your last year. You count down the days to all of the major senior events, not realizing that you’re flying through the year.

Before you know it, it’s June. Teachers and friends will sign your yearbook, writing about memories that seem like they were forever ago. They’ll give you hugs goodbye and wish you good luck in college next year. You’ll walk through the halls looking at underclassmen realizing that they still have years of high school ahead of them.

You’ll be jealous at the fact that they get to experience more spirit days, more football, soccer and basketball games. They’ll get to sit through 43-minute classes, meet up with their friends in the halls and sit in the lunch room talking about everything that happened over the weekend. For you, all of that is in the past.

So when exactly does it hit you? You won’t feel it’s all over when you’re at the first football game of the year. You won’t feel it as your watching your boys’ soccer team win the Nassau County Championship. You won’t feel it as you watch your girls’ basketball team make it all the way to States. You won’t feel it after your last spirit day / pep rally. You won’t feel it when you’re walking off the field of your last game. You won’t even feel it when the last bell rings on the last day of school.

Instead of having classes with your favorite teachers, you’ll be sitting in lectures with professors that barely know your name. You will be lying in your dorm room, using FaceTime to talk to your friends that are miles and miles away. You will be cooking your own dinner as you wait for your laundry to be done. You’ll miss the comfort of your own bed and your parent’s cooking. You’ll miss knowing everyone in your school and coming home to your family every day. You’ll miss getting bumped into in the hallways and the annoying underclassmen’s huge backpacks in your way. You’ll miss hearing your friends scream your name down the hallway and fighting for space to get to your locker. You never realize how much all of those little things will be missed.

You cannot put senior year into words. You can try to tell the underclassmen how lucky they are and to enjoy every second of high school. People will tell you to not wish senior year away and to enjoy every second of it. The truth is, you can’t put the feelings you get as a senior into words. So, I’m not going to sit here and tell you what you’ve heard a thousand times already. This is what I have to say. Go to every game, whether you want to or not. Show school spirit and join in on the chants that the boys will start at the games. Be nice to all of your teachers, soon enough you’ll be just a number to a professor. And lastly, appreciate the times you have with your friends. Soon enough you’ll be hundreds of miles away from them. This is the last year you will be rooting for the same teams, sitting in the same classes, and attending the same parties on the weekends.

Senior year is a year that you will never forget. The friends you make over the years will last you a lifetime and the memories you made will forever be with you. Enjoy every moment of the year, before you know it you’ll be walking onto a stage receiving your diploma.