Life of a Second Semester Senior

photo by flickr user ajschwegler

By Kristina Krasnikova

This is the semester that we look forward to year after year, when we hope that the stress of school will finally be alleviated. Walking around CCA during sophomore year I would hear seniors talk about their senioritis and their easy schedules and yearn for my senior year to come.

Initially I was a little discouraged because when first semester of senior year rolled around; I was bombarded by a mountain of work! The most time-consuming aspect of my schedule was first, AP government and then AP economics, which doesn’t seem all that difficult unless you add college essays into the mix. I applied to a total of nineteen schools, most of which required an essay supplement. All of this combined with being captain of the tennis team, made me completely overwhelmed. Although, nothing can compare the day that I took my finals and finally began to feel like a senior.

 For my second semester I chose to take Pulse, AP environmental science, and statistics. I figured that this was the time that I would get to relax, have time with friends, and catch up on four years worth of sleep. On one hand, I am getting exactly what I asked for, most of my fellow seniors and I would all agree that this is the time when we are least stressed and just looking to have fun. Pulse is the journalism class and the one place where I can exercise my creativity and write the stories that I believe will be interesting to other people on this campus. Unlike Pulse, APES and statistics require a large amount of studying on my end, and are necessary for my graduation requirements.

 I know many seniors who have either more rigorous schedules as well as easier and more laid back schedules, and I am certainly glad that I am taking the time to truly enjoy high school. All through my sophomore and junior year I was stuck in a whirlwind of SAT scores and AP class grades, and I never stopped for a second to realize how much CCA had to offer. The classes I am taking now I find truly rewarding. APES is definitely a class that makes you think about all of the resources that you waste as a human and consider environmentally friendly alternatives. Statistics helps me apply math concepts to samples and populations; which I am definitely going to use later in life. As for Pulse, the journalism class is what makes it possible for me to take the time to write articles which I truly want to write. If I had to pick one piece of advice to pass on to the lower classmen, it would be to pick the classes that you truly want to be in, because if you are learning something you are passionate about, you will enjoy the experience.