Being A Senior: The Best And Worst Part Of Your College Career

By Chad Anthony on March 20, 2014

After three years in the trenches, senior year stands as the pinnacle of a student’s college career. The time of binge drinking, crazy all-night escapades, and a sporadic sleep schedule is almost coming to a close. What better way to close out your undergraduate degree than with a keg-standing bang?

The difference between high school senior year and college senior year is a major one: maturity. At 18, we wonder about who will be in our classes? What’s going to happen to that “oh so needed” relationship? Can you make the distance work? Should you go to that high-school-round-two community college with your best friends?

You know, pointless stuff.

Image from Collegecandy.com

College is a bit different. Aside from realizing all of your high school drama-shit doesn’t matter at all, these four years carve a path for your individual future, albeit saddled with debt.

Freshman year is a time to find yourself in a new environment, with new friends, and a new work structure. Your major will most likely change a couple times as you contemplate how applicable “Sustainable Human Resources Management” will be in the real world during your sophomore year.

Junior year jams 18 credit hours of degree-specific classes as you start thinking about internships and career paths. Senior year begins with a stench of entitlement that quickly fades into despondence. The realization of college being [almost] complete hits you with a freight train-sized dose of reality. The senior year makes you feel a lot like Ron Burgundy. One moment you’re standing tall at the height of your career. Two months later you’re a glass case of emotion sobbing into a half gallon of Chunky Monkey.

Starting a career
For some of us, real life begins after graduation. The job offer is accepted and you are finally on your way to utilizing that major in some aspect other than class discussion. For others sticking with academia, more school simply means better chances in the job market at a later date. Either way, the future looks bright with sparkling adventures and no regrets – yet. Life after college provides an opportune learning experience. A new chapter in your life starts with brand new people. It’s like college all over again (kind of). And remember, you are far from the person you were that first day freshman year. That school embroidery finally fades away on that bottle opener you bought during Orientation Weekend.

It’s not at all like college
That’s your first reality check: expect hopes to be dashed. The past four years, however fulfilling they may have been, come crashing to a halt. Everyone is moving away. The college life of raging whenever possible, going to class at odd times during the day, and sleeping in between day-drinks and night-time bar hopping most crushingly fizzle out. We seniors must carry this burden of pending reality for two entire semesters. Imagine buying a puppy. You love the puppy so much, you take it to the vet only to find out it has two semesters to live. Rising juniors, get ready to begrudgingly take the torch.

Seriously, there should be a support group
Senioritis /senyor-i-tis/: an illness typically affecting fourth or fifth year undergraduate students; symptoms include but are not limited to laziness, significant loss of motivation and/or drive, extended periods of relaxation, increased desire to drink, tendency to skip class, pretending your job pursuit isn’t as pressing as it actually is, justifying irresponsible behavior because of a somewhat made up illness, going out when you shouldn’t, commiserating with friends over the ever encroaching graduation date, and general sensation of not giving any f*cks toward any one particular situation or event.

Spring semester breeze
My condolences to those unable to participate in the raucous behavior, engineering majors and bio/chem majors. The majority of your hard classes are out of the way! Say hello to Wine Tasting and Scuba Diving. With 11-13 credits on your plate, you can really cherish the last moments on your beloved campus, and/or friends. And when I say “credits,” I mean those couple general elective classes you need to round out your major. That Music History 101 class with all freshmen turns into your designated nap time, regardless of whether you attend. Sleep on couches, stay up late, put off that Geology 201 presentation about rats caked in dirt.

That dreaded day
Periodically throughout the second semester, signs of impending doom surface. Picking up your cap and gown makes everything sink in. Facebook becomes littered with emotional rants about the final days. Instagram is showered with pictures of tassels and caps with the #Crying4dayz. Family members mark “The Big Day!” on their calendars. Oh don’t you worry, that estranged Aunt Betty is coming, along with that strange uncle who doesn’t say much. But after the awkward hugs and gut wrenching good-byes, you realize that this moment will be unlike any other. Everything that once was, is now gone. But, you’ll keep those friends – those memories – with you for a lifetime.

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