Author | Justin Burnett |
Written by a
Stressed Senior
(Who may or may not be Justin Burnett)
Everyone knows who they are. They are the ones who drive themselves to school. They’re the ones who commandingly stride down the yellow halls as if they own them. They’re the ones who halt conversations as they pass, while underclassmen openly stare in awe of their confidence. They’re the ones who sit at the lunch or study hall table and smirk when the freshmen complain about a Mrs. Yount history test. They’re the ones who seem like they’ve been there forever. Everyone knows who they are. They are the seniors--and they are stressed out.
Disclaimer: Most of that first paragraph is patently exaggerated for the sake of literary awesomeness and irony, but I’m sure you all knew that. In reality, seniors mostly slouch into school and greet each other with the customary, “How’s it going?” and reply with the traditional long sigh. The Mrs. Yount part is definitely true though.
According to research from the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, in 2016, 41% of their college freshmen reported being overwhelmed during senior year, and that startling statistic is not just unique to UCLA. What exactly is it that makes senior year so stressful? How do you deal with the stress? And how can a senior expect to get through it with their sanity intact? The answer to the last one is, you can’t, but the others are relevant and impactful questions that often everyone is asking, and no one is answering. So I will attempt, in this article, to provide some answers to those tough questions so that seniors can survive the stress, and contract senioritis.
Well, above all, senior year is a time for a new beginning, and that can be understandably stressful. It’s a time where students are saddled with the responsibilities of being an “adult.” Instead of moving up within the school system, they are moving out of the comfortable confines of structured school and home life, sometimes literally, and thus have to handle new responsibilities and circumstances.
Seniors face decisions, decisions, decisions. This is when we must decide what course we’re gonna set for the foreseeable future. Will you go to college? Where will you go to school? Will you get accepted to your dream school? How will you pay for it? (Thanks Mrs. Harper ☺) Will you take a gap year? Will you go straight into working? What will you study or where will you work?
Trying to deal with all these questions at once is undoubtedly overwhelming. So don't! The first key to dealing with the stress is compartmentalization. Take each question separately, one day at a time. Doing this allows you to focus on one decision at a time, giving it the careful consideration it deserves rather than attempting to make multiple important choices at the same time, which often leads to hasty decisions. The last thing you want to do is squander your fresh start through poor choices. This approach also helps us do the most important thing you can do to reduce the stress of senior year and ensure that you don't make decisions you will later regret.
That is prayer, of course! It's absolutely important to go to the all-knowing God with questions about our future. After all, James 4: 13-15 says, “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” Prayer allows us to seek God’s will for our lives and take the burden of decision-making off our shoulders and place it on someone whose shoulders are so incredibly larger and stronger than ours are.
In our heads, I believe we all know this, but it can be difficult to put it into practice. I know I have struggled with even just what to pray for and how to pray about certain situations. One of the best things you can do if you struggle, as I did, is to go to people you trust and know to be walking with the Lord, usually adults but not necessarily, and ask them for advice. Speaking to my youth pastor and other godly adults in my life helped me grasp two pieces of advice that I think are applicable to every senior out there.
The first piece of advice was this, “Control what you can control, and release the rest to God.” You see, too often in this time of stress, we are stressed because we are trying to control EVERYTHING, when the simple truth is we can’t. Only God can (Proverbs 19:21). It is immensely freeing to go to God in prayer and just admit that we are limited in our ability to influence our situation and then just give that situation to Him, whose power and ability is unlimited. If we focus only on what we influence and leave the rest to God, the amount of stress in our lives will decrease dramatically.
The other insight that these conversations gave me was, “Pray for peace and rest in the knowledge that He has a plan.” Phillipians 4:7 talks about the “peace of God, that surpasses all understanding.” When you feel swamped, pray for God to give to you His peace and just let your anxiety drain away. Not only that, but remind yourself that God has a perfect plan for you (Jeremiah 29:11), and that it will not fail. God knows what you are going through right now and He knows you are tough enough to handle it. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of those facts through prayer.
Seniors, I know exactly what you're thinking right now! You are thinking, “That’s all well and good, Justin, but I have 4 APs, I’m in a club, I play competitive sports, I do another extracurricular, I volunteer on the weekends, I’m applying to 4 different schools, I’m applying for scholarships, and I’m trying to save but I barely make enough money, and that’s just the things I control!” Hmm, or maybe that’s just me thinking out loud. Yes, I know talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, don’t @ me. Go read Lydia’s SGA 360 article and you’ll find insanity is more common around here than SGA probably likes to admit.
Anyway… The point is, I understand what we’re all going through and I know that it might seem like you are going crazy cause you’re trying to compartmentalize but your brain doesn’t have enough compartments to hold all the stuff you’re juggling right now so you can’t keep control of it all so it’s all falling to pieces you’re hyperventilating I’m hyperventilating and it feels like we are juggling chainsaws because the consequences of messing up are super drastic and it feels like your life is going through the blender or maybe that’s just the chainsaws that you dropped and…
AND STOP. JUST PAUSE. BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT. LOOK AROUND... AND NOTICE THERE ARE 33 OTHER PEOPLE DOING THE SAME THING.
A key thing to remember in all of this is that you aren’t alone. This was perfectly illustrated to me just a moment ago (which will mean weeks ago when you read this) as I had my conversation with myself, through a text conversation I was also having with Lydia Rice, the not so benevolent overlord of journalism club. As I was subtly interviewing her-HAH, got you!- in the midst of our dialogue about princess parties, dictators, and assassins (we follow a don’t ask, don’t tell policy around here, by the way), I asked Lydia to describe senior year in one word. Never one to follow instructions, she gave me three. “Homework, Coffee, and Stress”
This validated the idea that us seniors are clearly stressed, but it also reminded me that we are all going through this together. So why not face it together? When you have too much to juggle, find another juggler and juggle together, because two jugglers can juggle better than one (That’s probably not true but bear with my dubious facts for the sake of a great analogy). One of the great things about having a class as small as ours, aside from having a shorter graduation ceremony, is that it’s easier to form relationships and get to know all of your fellow sufferers. Sharing struggles, stress, and concerns with others who share your experience make traveling this road sooo much easier. And it’s more fun too!
Coincidentally, that’s the fourth and final piece of advice I have to give seniors. Have fun! Yeah, I know, it sounds cheesy and fun is probably the furthest thing from your mind as you write that college application essay, but I’m serious. Take a moment, even if it’s only an hour a week, to let go of your worries and fears and just do something you enjoy. It’s even better if you get a two-for-one and do it with your friends!
That’s something that the SLC Senior Coordinators, Andrew Yount and Emma Harper, are doing an outstanding job of pulling off. Each month they’re organizing a senior event so that we can all just hang out and decompress a little. For September, it’s a trip to Stone Mountain Park to see the laser and fireworks show! Who knows what it will be in the future, but I’m sure they have more great events planned.
That’s not your only opportunity to have fun, though. Go bowling with some friends! Go to that arcade and embrace your inner 90s kid! Go sit down at a cafe and chat with some buddies. Or maybe steal some alone time at your favorite park or library. Whatever makes you happy, set aside time to go do it.
It’s like Dave Ramsey preaches about budgets. When making your budget, always be sure to plan in some extra “play” money. Why? To keep yourself sane! The same principle applies to plan your schedule. Among all the serious responsibilities you have, make sure to intentionally have some time for you to just do you and escape from the stress. Of course, it’s too late for many of us to not go crazy, but there’s no need to progress further down that path. Senior year becomes a tad bit less stressful if you have fun when you’re going through it.
Right now, if you are not a senior, you might be considering pulling a Steve Jobs and dropping out because of the terrible picture I’ve painted of going through the senior year. Please DON’T! Your parents might kill you and Mrs. Bryson would probably kill me and nobody wants either of those things to happen. So allow me to switch gears a little, because this whole article has been pretty much addressed to seniors, and talk to all the other high schoolers for a moment. Cause Hey! You’ll be in our shoes in just a short time.
I’m not going to sugar coat senior year and say it’s all sunshine and roses and senioritis, but I will say this- Despite the stress and the decisions, senior year can be amazing. It’s more responsibility, yes, but it’s more freedom as well! It’s also the year when you can finally see the payoff for the work that you’ve put into school up to this entire point. Every student at some point, no matter how dedicated, asks themselves, “Why oh why am I doing these useless homework problems?” Senior year, you see why. It’s a great feeling to open your email or mail and see college or job acceptance letters. It can get annoying as all get out, but it’s very validating. And did I mention you are the top dog on campus?!! OHHH YEAH!
So all that goes to say, don’t give up. Push through. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s an oncoming freight train! A freight train being driven by your weirdly gleeful parents and teachers! But a freight train filled with opportunity and blessings!
Maybe I accomplished my stated goal of answering those hard questions that we often ask and seldom answer. If so, great! Senior year is tough, no doubt, but I firmly believe that through compartmentalization, prayer, friendship, and fun we can all survive and come out the other side better for it. And, well, maybe I failed utterly and will be the laughingstock of Scholars Guild for years to come. If so, and you got nothing from this entire article, hopefully, I at least made you laugh or smile, cause remember, having fun is important!