Senior year has been an interesting year. Thus far, I have acted more maturely this year than in the other three years combined. I have learned to love the pain more this year than I have in the past, too. During physics and APUSH last year, it was as drag and I had no motivation to put in work other than the A. After one of my AP tests didn’t turn out as well as I wanted, I have begun to pay attention and do things all good students should, not that I wasn’t a good student the last three years, but I could have certainly been better. Side note: my parents told me I was very immature last year and this year, they like the new and improved version of myself. I think I was perfectly pleasant last year, but that’s besides the point.
I would give incoming seniors the same advice that I would give myself if I were to restart senior year: develop the habits for college. At this point, your colleges won’t really see your stats anymore and your grades senior year are primarily important just for you. So, do senior year for you. Join the clubs you want, do the things you like, heck, quit the things you don’t like. My current plan is not to play baseball my senior year. Why? Don’t worry I won’t go into the semantics of it, but the are an array of reasons that lead me to believe that I will be far happier if I spend that time that I would have devoted to baseball on lifting or other things like working a job. Next, take and pass your AP tests. If you plan on going to college, passing AP tests your senior year will be a huge relief for your wallet or your parents’ wallets. You have plenty of time; don’t kid yourself.
I’ve spent last six months in the gym. I’ve applied the same mentality to school and everything I do now. The gym has had a super positive effect on my life. I go about five days a week, and I’ve recently started going to the sauna too. The sauna feels great. I think in the process of maturing, I don’t just go to the gym, but I also care about stretching and things beyond how much weight I’m moving. The sauna has been a good place for me to decompress after a long day, improve blood flow and the health of my skin, and start my week the right way if I do it on Sunday.
Next semester, I plan to keep along with strong grades. Hopefully, I will comprehend everything next semester, pass my five AP tests (might be six actually), and have an enjoyable final year of high school. Then, I get to escape to college. Before then, I have many grad parties to attend and lots of scholarships to apply for.
Senior year has largely been clouded by college applications, but that has gone well so far. I’ve gotten into four out of the four early schools that I applied to. I hope that more money comes when I receive their emails for merit-based scholarships and such, but as of now it is just a waiting game. I think that I have evolved since college applications: I don’t procrastinate as much or as often anymore after procrastinating my applications nearly backfired. I’m glad I got all of my applications in and on time, however.
To conclude, I hope that incoming seniors pay attention during senior year. They should get something out of it! Microeconomics is a good example of that. I have done my work diligently in that class. I can easily see myself having gotten a B or worse in that class if I weren’t as on top of it as I am right now. I’m looking forward to the rest of senior year!
So we’re starting the blog off with lies I see Mr. Mature.
Just kidding Chris! I definitely enjoyed this blog, and I love the character growth you exhibit when it comes to your work ethic. Senior year really is the clumination of all our hard work, and while that AP test didn’t work out, it’s good that you have an opportunity to learn from it.
It’s sad to me that you’re quitting baseball to lift or work because sports for me bring me a lot of joy and I know you’ve worked hard enough to earn a letter and cord for graduation, but I trust that you know what’s best for you. If you change your mind, I’ll come to your senior night though! For me, athletics aren’t really about my performance or being the best in the world as much as they are about improvement and dedication. Not quitting water polo even they’ll I’ll probably bench-warm this year is just an opportunity for me to grow more as a person and support my teammates. But of course, the time will probably help you crush those APs, so I wish you the best.
Your blog is a gym-rat vlog today Chris, and I think that’s okay. The dedication you have towards self-improvement and motivation is astounding, and I envy your commitment. I like to believe I’d be in there too with you if I dropped a few extracurriculars, but I don’t have any regrets about how I’ve spent my time this year and hope you don’t either.
You’re very transparent at the end. It is a money game, and in the mean time we’ll just have to push through and wait for grad party season. In the end senior year is what you make of it. I hope you found time to enjoy yourself as much as you did to apply yourself. The gym can certainly be rewarding in terms of your feeling and your results, but I favor a work-hard play-hard approach personally.
Hey Chris, I enjoyed reading your post and thought that you had some really good takeaways. Realizing that you’ve matured as a person I think is definitely top 10 weirdest experiences, like looking back and thinking, wow that really used to be me. It was cool to hear about the evolution of your philosophy in the gym, and how you apply the lessons you learn there to your life in school and outside of it. I think that it’s important to look at the totality of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, like how you mentioned with caring about more now than just how much weight you are moving when lifting but about also how it contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Good luck on all of your AP tests and on receiving scholarships. I am also looking forward to attending graduation parties at the end of the year once all is said and done. Congratulations on getting accepted into all of those early schools that you applied to. I can tell that you have lofty goals and I have no doubts that you will reach them.