The final days are among us. The countdown for the how many days left has commenced. As a senior I cannot help but think how many of us are simply breezing through these last few weeks with only one objective in mind; when we can leave.

While finals are still dreading upon us, Dragon Talks are raising anxiety levels, and community service write ups seem endless, we cannot wait to get it done so we never have to look back. Senioritis can plague even the most driven student, however what I have found to be affecting me more so is a drive of motivation for all the wrong reasons.

I simply cannot wait to leave and never look back. High school has not been dreadful by any means. I feel privileged to attend a school that offers a welcoming environment filled with teachers who enable students to succeed. Things could have been much worse but there’s still a lingering hope that they will get much better.

From The Social Network, Legally Blonde, National Lampoon’s Animal House, to Revenge of the Nerds, numerous films have given a small glimpse of all the memorable events college can entail. You work immensely hard for four years in hopes that after desperately wanting colleges to want you they reciprocate the love and want you back. The selection has now been made and the anticipation is all that is left. Even for those who are not getting to go to their first choice or necessarily moving out, the prospect of going somewhere new still seems so appealing that we miss out on the positives that now presents.

It all sunk in for me when I started not to care. Not apathy towards my school work but indifference towards the events that make senior year memorable. I didn’t care about missing senior prom, I didn’t care to go to awards night or the senior barbeque, and when the earlybird deadline passed for purchasing grad night tickets I didn’t care either. We survive through high school by convincing ourselves that it will get better. For some, high school is where you thrive and for others it presents life’s greatest challenges. I have critiqued high school and dismissed its rights of passage as being overrated, but a fear is arising that college might too be just as overrated, if not more so.

For underclassmen as well it is easy to get stuck in the loop of simply going through the motions and preparing for the next event. The academically rigorous environment that Foothill is, trains us to be college orientated from the beginning. I couldn’t wait when I was a freshman to plan my list of dream schools, then as a sophomore get some requirements out of the way, then become a junior only to take AP classes and take the SAT/ACT, and finally as a senior apply to my schools and let the waiting game begin.

But for us seniors the years of waiting for the next big step is over. Validation for our work and expectations of something better has arrived. I know I will look back with nostalgia and a bit of regret for not taking in these last weeks with more ease and enjoyment. It is tempting to be set on that final day we get to leave and begin a new journey, but let’s not be fooled that college will be so much better. I know similar difficulties I face here will not completely vanish by the time I arrive to college. This may be as good as it gets which does not have to be a depressing thought. Rather I view it as a chance to take the opportunity to leave my classmates on a positive note and give back to those that have enriched my life for the better.

As I countdown the days left and rehearse my Dragon Talk endlessly I will take the time to pause and remind myself to go purchase a grad night ticket.