“Wait, we have a quiz????” I exclaimed as I threw up a peace sign and walked out of my seventh period math class and straight to the nurse’s office.
Here I was, someone who vowed at the beginning of high school to always show the most integrity with my schoolwork, watching the nurse check for a fever that I knew I didn’t have.
For the entirety of high school, like most , I have looked forward to the day where I could say that I was a second-semester senior.
I looked forward to the day where I would not only be a member of the oldest grade of all public schools, but a member of a select group of individuals on this earth whose life would no longer be controlled by school or work.
As I rattled off a few uncorrelated symptoms, I realized how unprepared I was for this way of life. And so I figured that if I wanted to make the most out of the next couple months, I would need some advice from some of peers who know this way of life all too well…
Spencer B.: “Don’t open your backpack for an entire week and tell everyone about it”
Abbie K.: “Ask your teacher for an extension the day it’s due.”
Elizabeth J.: “Do all of your homework during passing periods”
Jack R.: “Shoot for Cs”
Daniel H.: “Take 20-minute bathroom breaks because you can.”
It was at this point, after I had talked to these five people, three of whom sit at my math table, that I realized how the spirit of being a second semester senior didn’t lie just in blowing off homework, skipping classes, and showing up to school without a backpack.
Second semester senior attitude isn’t just about not caring about school, it’s about doing what you want when you want. It’s about understanding that you are in control of your life now. So, without further ado, here are my 3 tips on how to become a second semester senior:
Tip #1: Post a lip-syncing video on your snapchat story. We are all weird and there is no denying it. If you’re not weird, you’re weird. So, in conclusion, everybody is still weird, and there’s no reason social media can’t display this side of us too.
When we act our weirdest, we often have the most fun; if we want to flex on social media, we can do it just by showing us having a good time. Sometimes the coolest side of us is that weird side, and don’t we all want our social media’s to make us seem like the coolest people ever?
Tip #2: Get your toenails painted pink. While getting my toenails painted didn’t really make any sense due to the fact I never show my toes, or didn’t really go with gender norms (which I guess shouldn’t matter anyways), I still thought it would be fun to do something just to do it.
Having my toenails painted pink now literally has no direct negative impact on my life; so, we can take away two things from this: 1. We should do random stuff that might seem weird to other people just to show yourself that you are in control of your life and 2. We should stop judging people for doing things that make them happy. If someone wants to roll up to school in a pirate costume for the next week, let them do it. Hating on people makes them feel worse about their own wants, and hating on people is wasted energy that could be used on better things.
Tip #3: Stop eating dairy. For me, as a lactose-intolerant individual, when I stopped eating dairy, I started feeling soooo much better. It’s not that I don’t like the taste of pizza or mac n’ cheese, but rather it’s that the pain I feel from it outweighs the pleasure.
To put in broader terms, we can look to Marie Kondo’s method of getting rid of things in your life that don’t spark joy. With lactose, it was simply getting rid of something I could no longer tolerate (hehe).
If someone or something is bringing unnecessary negative energy into your life, understand that you have the ability to cut them off. If you notice that you have been spending a lot of time on your phone or watching TV, realize that you would probably be better off cutting down on this screen time.
These three tips might seem stupid, and they probably kind of are, but by understanding that you don’t have to care about things early on, you can make of the most of your time in high school. Sadly, or not, it took me until a few months ago before I realized that the small things I did here didn’t really matter.
Sure, I would make memories and others would remember me, but it turns out that high school is probably the best time of our lives to do crazy stuff too.
Even though during semesters 1-7 our grades do matter, that doesn’t mean our lives need to be consumed by them too. Most of us aren’t supporting a family and don’t need to take care of adult stuff like taxes and a mortgage. We are all still kids–now is a special time where we can act like one while still feeling like we have the freedom that adults get too. That’s pretty dope.