It's that time of year again, I'm afraid. Back to School (BTS). I'm sure as a student you have already begun your BTS shopping and have already bought all the necessary equipment: pencils (that you will inevitably lose), pens (you'll probably lose those too), and binders (that you will incessantly open and close to annoy your teachers). I'm sure you have also gone shopping for clothes, I know, personally, that girls have a very difficult time finding the perfect outfit for the first day of school, although many of us resort to wearing sweatpants and baggy t-shirts for the rest of the year anyway.
Senior year, specifically, is said to be full of great memories, passionate friendships, and intense senioritis. But, before we graduate this year, we have to make it through nine more months of classes (and pass all of them). We also have to work hard, apply to colleges, and stay involved. It has been a long journey for this graduating class, we have been through so many things together: the ending of all of our favorite TV shows e.g. Zoey 101, Hannah Montana, Drake and Josh, and we have seen the election of the first black president, and more recently, we have all witnessed our favorite childhood game come back to life with Pokemon Go. As a last hoorah, to find out exactly what the seniors at Montville Township High School are looking forward in their last year, I have been asking around, and compiling a Top 10 list of what the senior class of Montville is most looking forward to in their senior year.
1. Graduation / College.
It's no secret that any senior class is excited to "fly the coop" and graduate high school. For many students, high school isn't exactly the best four years of their lives, most of us, including myself, are more than excited to put these last few years behind us and start fresh with a new school, a new group of friends, and a new outlook on life. Graduation, however, will be the end to whatever life you were living in high school. Graduation creates a blank slate, and allows whoever you were in high school to be completely transformed into someone or something else.
Montville is a tiny town, and most of the students have lived here all their lives. The five elementary schools all funnel into one middle school and eventually, one high school; we have been around the same people our entire lives. More than a fair share of students living in Montville are ready for a change of scenery, we can only go to Joe's so many times and hang out at Sundaes for so long before we get bored with ourselves.
College will be like nothing we have ever experienced. As a college student you will find new friends and new opportunities to make your high school years look like child's play. You will discover what you're good at and what you're horrible at, what things you like to learn about and which you do not. Seniors have heard countless speeches and "shpeels" about how great college is and how you will make friends to last a lifetime. We are more than ready to leave and more than excited to get our college on.
2. Prom.
Senior prom, behind the complaints of writing college applications, is the most discussed topic of senior year. Promposals begin as early as September; it gets a little ridiculous. The Facebook Group for girl's to post their dresses in, is created in October, and the first post shows up later the same day.
Prom is filled with photos of you and your best friends, your handsomely dressed dates, and your parents who are trying not to tear up. It's an all around amazing experience that you get to share with your entire class where no one judges anyone else, everyone compliments other people and just tries to have a good time. What more can you ask for?
Along with prom comes the prodigious prom weekend. This is when the seniors use up all of their sick days and spend hours calculating whether or not they have enough credits for health class to graduate with. Prom weekend is when every senior, having gone to the dance or not, is down at the shore, renting a house with their friends, and having and incredible time sitting on the beach and letting all of their cares float away.
3. Senior Ditch Day.
This is something every high school student looks forward to, and is proud to have earned by the time they are a senior. I remember last year, the senior class of 2016 at Montville had the greatest percentage of participation in the history of the school for their senior ditch day. I believe as a class, we can beat that without any problem.
Similar to prom weekend, many of the seniors spend their ditch day down the shore, however, some make the venture to Six Flags. I look forward to what my friends and I decide to do with our senior ditch day, after all, we deserve it after surviving the past 3 years.
4. Senior parking.
This is more of a self-explanatory bullet in this list. What a huge relief it is that as seniors, we get the parking lot entirely to ourselves! After three years of watching our friends and siblings drive to school (maybe you were lucky and got a ride), it is finally our turn! I'm sure that almost every senior in our class entered the raffle for the parking spots, good luck to you that you were given a good spot. Everyone knows that if you aren't in the front half of the parking lot or near the exit, you might as well be in No Man's Land.
5. Senior activities.
Here in Montville, we have a variety of "senior activities" like the senior banquet, senior breakfast, senior picnic, senior dessert, and senior awards.
I am looking forward, not only to missing school, but to dressing up with my best friends, taking a lot of ridiculous photos, and eating a crap ton of food. I know I haven't exactly been ecstatic about the events in past years, but this year will be different. Why not make the most out of it?
6. Spirit Week / Color Wars.
As it is at other schools, I'm sure, Montville has a very enthusiastic senior class during spirit week. All throughout the week the student council keeps a point system based off of how many student in each class participate in spirit week, which includes dressing up for differently themed days. Every year, the senior class wins, obviously.
At the end of each spirit week, however, we have a color war day where each grade is assigned to wear a different color representing school pride. At Montville the color assignments are as follows:
Freshmen- Yellow
Sophomores- Green
Juniosr- White
Seniors- Black
Each grade wears their color and sits in designated sections during our first (and only) pep rally of the school year; it gets intense.
7. Senior shirts.
As mentioned above, each grade is supposed to wear the color designated for their grade. This year, as seniors, we get to wear black. Now, seniors get VERY into the black face paint, bandannas, and jewelry; but what makes the entire ensemble complete, is the senior shirt.
Many schools have a similar equivalent to a senior shirt where there is a slogan for the senior class that incorporates the year they are graduating. This year, my school has three different shirt designs, two of which are my own doing. No matter which shirt you decide to wear on color wars day, seniors have to win. End of story. Period.
8. Senior prank.
Although Montville isn't great at pulling together a senior prank (did we even have one last year?), this year is going to be different. I say we should go for something classic, like bring your pet to school day, or camp out in the hallway, but i'm sure we will be able to figure something out that involves everyone and drives the administration crazy.
If you are from a different town, or know of any particularly great senior pranks, send them in to me, I would be so grateful to receive your ideas!
9. Friends.
Senior year is the time to figure out who you want in your life moving forward. Does that include your best friend of ten years? Do you include the new girl that you met yesterday? Most friendships in high school end in the senior year, sorry, but it's true. As people start getting accepted into college and moving away, all the students you have met suddenly disappear and seem not to matter as much. It's true when saying that if you keep a friend from high school throughout college, you will be friends for life.
When you finally pack up and leave whatever town you live in, especially in Montville, you will probably be left with two or three people you can count on and will actually enjoy talking to in ten years. As senior year goes on, friend groups become smaller and smaller and friends start to part ways. I hope you have already found those two or three people you can count on, senior year wouldn't be the same without them.
10. Sports.
A large percentage of students play sports for their schools, some students play more than one sport or may play for a private team too. In any case, seniors tend to look forward to their sports teams, mainly because more often than not, the seniors are named captains and finally have a chance to be in charge of their team and leave behind a legacy of excellence.
Although Montville isn't particularly famous for their sports, we have a great time cheering on all of our teams. We can't hide from our Mustang pride.
As an example of an excited senior, I am proud to say that I have been chosen as a captain for the varsity swim team this year. I am looking forward to pushing my teammates to work hard but also to teach them the values of teamwork and friendship. As Captain, I will be able to finally have my opinion heard and be a part of decisions constantly being made when it comes to practices, meet schedules, social activities, and the overall planning it takes to run the swim team.
Being a senior also gives you a chance to take leadership roles more seriously and train the next generation of athletes to be even better than the one before them. This year, I can feel, will be great for Montville and for our sports teams.
