FRESHMAN

“Frosh” “Babies” “Newbies” “Fresh Meat” are all names that upperclassmen refer to you as. It's a scary time. You feel a whole new meaning of pressure. There's a feeling of panic to find a brand new group of friends that, at that time, you believe to be your people for the rest of your high school career. Do you still call them play dates? Nope. Definitely, do not say that. It's a “hang out."

Although you now feel like the big kid on the block, your teachers still “baby” you. You want the respect but at the same time, you see the upperclassmen drowning in work. This year is also a huge year for driving. Drivers education part one, two times a week, for 4 hours, anxiously waiting for the moment you can drive (with a parent or someone 21 and older).

Then come finals… the most dreaded moment in a freshman's life. How do you study? Why does everyone but you seem to have a perfect system as to how to study? Are the teachers gonna give us study guides? Is this the point in my life when I have to start drinking coffee? You have to take beginners' computer tech, gym, and speech...

When the school year is over you feel like a real, official high school student and cannot wait for the moment when the freshmen next year come and you feel oh so cool.

SOPHOMORE

Sophomore year is kinda… weird.

You're still not an upperclassman but you're not a newbie. Things get harder but you feel as if this is the wishy-washy year: the year where your class is almost ignored.

You're not new, you're not taking the ACT/SAT, or applying to colleges, you're just there. Friend groups are officially formed; however, there's more drama in your life than ever! As to the whole driving situation, for most people, you get your license! Driving all day and all night, going to the mall, and just driving around for the hell of it!

The “party” scenes start to form and you spend hours listening to music with your friends and trying on at least seven different outfits for your first party debut. At the end of the year you begin to find yourself, or at least try looking.

Likes, dislikes, hobbies, what you want to be in your life, what kind of person you want to become, and sometimes you start to form romantic relationships. Who’s asking who to homecoming is one of the biggest worries! All-in-all, its a fun-filled year with more responsibility than the previous year.

JUNIOR

The pressure is high!

Between studying for ACT/SAT, AP and Honors classes, always getting asked the same question over and over again “where do you want to go to college?” The work load is outrageous! However, this is the year where you truly find the people who you will forever call your best friends. It's no longer you and your big group, but it's you and your 2-4 best friends who are a part of a group.

These people are the ones you lean on when anything goes wrong and who you spend every single weekend with (because everyone knows junior year there will be no time to hang out on school days!). Sundays are strictly reserved for 7 hours at your local coffee shop studying your butt off. But weekends are Fun and when I say fun I mean REALLLYYYY FUN;)!

As sad as it sounds, you begin to stray away from relying on your parents and start becoming a truly independent human. Your GPA, test scores, and college is the only thing on your mind.

It is also the first official year you can attend prom and have the “best night of your life”. It is by far the worst year of high school workload wise, but it’s the best year to reflect on yourself. You learn what study methods truly work for you, who your real friends are, you appreciate the good in people a little bit more than you use to, and you deeply reflect on yourself.

And just when you finally think the stress is over…

SENIOR

You spend the entire summer applying to colleges! Writing essay after essay and anxiously awaiting a response from the colleges you applied to. The first few months are nerve-racking!

In the beginning, you have to do your absolute best just in case your number 1 choice wants to see your senior grades UGHHH! A little less than halfway through the year, you start to feel “senioritis.” You are so done with high school and ready for the real world!

Or so you thought…

When it seriously hits you that you are leaving your home and going off to college you start seeing everything as you “last”. Last first day of school, last prom, last football game…

You start to cherish the two-hour car rides jamming out with your best friends and the dinners with your family. You begin to realize that the last four years went by in a blink of an eye.

Lastly, standing on the stage in front of all your classmates for the past four years, getting your diploma, and taking that last step out of your former high school, you have officially accomplished high school.

You have survived everything that has been thrown at you for the last four years and you feel like an emotional rollercoaster. GOODBYE high school… HELLO, college:)