If I think of senior year, it seems to have been very short. It wasn’t that long ago that I was making a last minute toga out of a sparkly fabric. My backpack probably still has the glitter ingrained within it. Yet in the midst of it, the days and weeks felt like forever; my time was dictated by the next quiz, test, or deadline rather than the traditional calendar. What day of the week is it?
It feels a little surreal to be at the end of semester 1, but it is also tiring to only be halfway through. I still have to learn electricity and magnetism.
One of my favorite accomplishments this semester is my gym membership. After the rush of October, my Nov. 1st reward was registration at a nearby gym. There’s a bit of a learning curve, and everyone online seems to say something different.
The gym is an example of the type of environment I strive to be in- environments that are completely foreign to me, where I am easily one of the worst in the room. I do a lot of things that I am not good at, often surrounded by people that it comes naturally to. While somewhat demoralizing, I reassure myself that at least I am growing.
With two friends nearly as clueless as me, I power through. I have wasted hours doing the wrong thing, misusing equipment and using improper form, but I have definitely improved since the start. I have learned to back squat, to finish my set alongside a man using three times my weight, to try new machines and movements, and to fail. I like to think I have grown stronger, too. At least a little bit. Sore muscles are my reward the day after, and my friends keep me accountable for coming back.
In response to those entering their senior year, I would encourage them to push themselves. A lot of the things I have done this year have scared me— challenging courses, daunting activities, putting myself out there— but they have also been some of my favorites.
Manage your time well! At times, I would be up before the deadline of an application and realize that it was in part just a competition of who could write the best last minute essay. Sleep is incredibly valuable. I tell my mom it is for the weak, but I still head to bed so that I won’t get Alzheimer’s in my old age. Prioritize that over something trivial; go to bed.
Don’t invest time and energy into what does not reward. Others are making better use of that same effort!
Take care of yourself. Somewhat conflicting message with the “push yourself” one, but know your limits. Go to bed! Go to the gym! Please stop drinking celsius, I don’t want to be the only one left alive at 80. Take breaks, try something new. Add someone on snapchat, talk to your table mates.
I need to fill up one hundred and fifty more words in the next forty minutes while also replying to three more people, 200 words each, making that a total of seven hundred and fifty more words to be written in forty minutes. That math means 18.75 I will now be typing at a rate of 18.75 words per minute. With this in mind, I will close with a shout out to one of my favorite beverages this year: premier protein coffee.
I just talked down on Celsius, but this has significantly less caffeine. Celsius is absurd. Premier protein coffee, my drink of choice, has around 30 grams of protein as well- perfect for the gym rats! Academically and physically growing, yay!
Anyways, congratulations to all of us for making it this far. I am very excited to see where everyone ends up and how our current ideas of our futures will change. I am also sorry to whoever is waiting for me to post this right now! Done! Goodnight!
Hey Grace, I love this blog post. Yes, I agree with you, it has flown by. I can’t believe that we are halfway done with our high school career, that is insane. Yes, I love that you got a gym membership! What gym do you go to? I doubt you are the worst one in the room!! At the end of the day, you are bettering yourself for you, and that is what matters! Yes, you have to make mistakes to grow! When you are not in your comfort zone, that is when you truly grow. HAHA yes, Senioritis is definitely real. Especially after feeling overwhelmed by college applications and balancing extracurriculars and HW. Yes, senior year is about growing. I tell myself that is part of the reason why it is so daunting at times, because you don’t realize you are growing until you have grown. Sleep is so important. I too have learned that I am practically a little baby when i sleep, as I really love sleeping. Self-care is so important and so necessary. Every person is different and different tasks will help them achieve the level of self-care they need. Similar to you, I love working out and doing yoga.
Hi Grace! First of all. Bob the tomato. Internet celebrity, local icon. We all love Bob the tomato. I agree when you say senior year has felt short – I’ve been looking at my own BeReal and realizing how long we’ve actually been in school. It feels like September was a few weeks ago when it was actually, like, three months away now. Halloween must’ve just happened, and Thanksgiving break had to have happened in the past week or so, right? I think it’s all of the college applications. They make the days feel so much shorter when you stress over them until BAM! Deadlines. I love the advice you give, especially when you talk about managing your time and not putting time into things that don’t matter. I love the way you write, too, it feels like I can read it in your voice, making it a super fun and easy read. All in all, Grace, it has been so fun having you in class this year. Thank you for all of the funny memories not just in this class, but in Mind and Body, too. This has been one of my better classes of the semester, and you and Ria and Ashley have made it so fun to be in. Thank you so much Grace and have a great winter break!
Hello! Grace!
Your first image immediately intrigued me from a feeling deep within. I don’t know what this feeling is, I have never experienced it before. I cannot believe something new was awoken in me during this 100 minute final period. I completely agree, this semester has honestly gone by pretty fast like just yesterday I was introduced to our blog assignments that would soon take over my life (in a positive way, I actually really look forward to rambling and posting on my blog). I’m so glad you were able to find enjoyment in going to the gym! In the past, I have mostly exercised unwilling and without much joy. Recently, I have been trying to push myself to do better. I have found exercising with friends to be really fun and motivating. I believe you have grown stronger by going to the gym and my opinion is the only thing that matters so you’re good! I completely agree with your emphasize on knowing your limits because it is extremely important to balance work with relaxation. I really like your calculation of how much more you need to write because I am feeling that pressure right now for sure. I have been reading your blog posts for many weeks now, so I will greatly miss them! Hope you have a fantastic, amazing, stunning, revolutionary, ground-breaking, break!