Students do it every year.

They bolster up their schedule in the hopes that colleges may look at the classes they took and literally drop their jaws of the magnificence that you as a person. Right after they manually clench their jaws closed with their hands, they will run over to the Dean’s office and fervidly exclaim that you must be given a full-ride at their university or they will lose the greatest thinker of the 21st century.

These are your expectations on your first day of school…and then it happens. This “it” is a number of things. Chiefly, however, this “it” is the laziness of the high school senior.  At one point or another, we as seniors have come across the wall in our studies. We all have the mentality that we have worked exceedingly hard for the past 12 years and now our journey is coming to an end. We feel entitled to taking a step back from the constant workload and live our last year in high school as, in the words of Mr. Siscone, “lazy humps.”

Another member of the History Department, the very openly-voiced Mr. O’Malley had his two-cents put into the discussion:

“[Seniors] think that the world is their picnic, that it’s their giant party…[Seniors] want to get busy before they go to college, and they realize the world is a revolving sludge ball.”

The main form of this laziness comes with our environment. For years, all we have heard is how easy senior year is and how fun it is and how many great memories we’ll make. Not once are we told that senior year is an excruciatingly hard year, and that we should keep our heads in the text books. Whether it is from our parents, older friends, or even the media, we have only been introduced to the idea that our final year is a very lackadaisical year. We are so indoctrinated with this idea that we go into senior year without a care in the world.

Senior Chris Huster, who is still in-between choosing two colleges, can relate to the feeling, saying, “Seniors are already committed to college, high school grades mean nothing basically.”

Another reason for our laziness is the certain perks we get as seniors. Whether it’s leaving class a minute early, having more opportunities to get out of class in way of clubs and sports, or the ever-so-desired “senior privilege,” there are many opportunities for us to slack off. Senior privilege has been around for decades and has been passed down from generation to generation as high school senior lore. I remember even my parents telling me that when they took senior privilege it was like the gates of Paradise opened up and seats were reserved just for them.

However, there is a stigma that comes with senior privilege.

Many people believe that a senior that takes advantage of senior privilege is just flat-out lazy. They believe that the time that they aren’t in school is just time that they will commit shenanigans of any sort.

I have several questions for these naysayers: Where is freshman privilege? Where is sophomore privilege? Where is junior privilege? Why then do we have senior privilege? How can you blame any senior that takes senior privilege when the only opportunity anyone has of leaving school early or coming into school late is in their senior year? Who knows, maybe if it were offered every year, then maybe the school would see a drop in a senior’s laziness and an increase in their efficiency and caring. Having senior privilege offered only once at the tail-end of a high schooler’s experience only entices them to take it.

Many people argue that junior year is the hardest year in terms of course work and the SATs and the standardized state tests that students have to pass or else they won’t get a diploma. I agree with that statement completely. However, I believe that senior year is the most stressful year.

Senior Matt Matro, with an SAT score, ACT score, the GPA and class rank to back it up his claims, explained why he took senior privilege.

“My entire life I have worked hard and put in the hours to become as successful as I could be. I took hard classes and turned everything in on time and did what I had to do,” he said. “Does me taking senior privilege make me any less smart or inept to perform well in college and the real world? I don’t think that for a minute. I want my break just like everyone else does.”

All eleven years of schooling have now boiled down to this point in our lives, and now we send out all of our credentials to schools that deny 80% of its applicants. We apply to schools that we have wanted to go too since we were 10, our “dream schools” if you will.

The hours of preparation for finishing these applications are immense; making sure every “i” is dotted, every club is in there, every SAT score is sent out, meeting with guidance counselors to send out your transcripts, and writing essays for these schools. All of this is on top of our school course load that we have to get done the next day while simultaneously meeting deadlines for these applications. Knowing that every club you put in or every word you write on your essay is the difference maker between getting into the school of your dreams or having to settle for a smaller school is no light task. Once finished the grueling application process, you now have to wait anywhere from 3 to 4 months waiting for these colleges to either open up their doors to you r bring down the hammer, crushing all of your hopes or dreams that you ever had.

You have now reached the stage of getting into most of the colleges you applied to. Congratulations!

Now comes one of the hardest decisions in the world, and this decision revolves around the bottom line; the cost of college. At 18 years old, you have to make a choice between tens of thousands of dollars that will impact you until the day you die while having absolutely no comprehension of what even $40,000 looks like, let alone paying that every year. Now you have to look at which school has the best program for your major, or the amount of students that have a job locked in 3 months after graduation, or which has a better atmosphere, or which college will provide you more connections via networking, plus many more factors that will haunt your dreams at 2 AM.

This is a true story: I once awoke at 2 AM and immediately went to my computer and checked the opportunity of internships at all of my prospective schools. I looked into the companies that offered them, which ones offered their interns jobs before graduation, which ones paid their interns the most, and which schools offered the best job fairs for prospective graduating students.

All of this consumes the soul and your everyday thoughts. There was not a moment where I wasn’t thinking about or concerned with the outlook of my future during the first three-quarters of this year. This being said, this is why senior year, without a doubt, is the most stressful year.

Mary Grace Arena, a senior who shows off her Penn State pride on a daily basis thinks a break is much-needed.

“All the grades you worked for in high school are now finished. Also, we’ll be studying incredibly hard materials for the next 4 years and we want to enjoy whatever break we can get,” she said.

“I understand the importance of school, which is why I worked hard to get to where I’m going to be [Rutgers University],” said senior Matt Parker. “But I also like my sleep, and I like the reward I get for keeping my grades up for my entire life.”

Are seniors lazy? On the outside, yes. However, none of us are truly lazy down in our core. We all went through 12 grueling years that tested who we truly are as people and now our hardships in this chapter are done. In just 6 months time a new chapter will be flipped open as we embark on our journey into college. In college, we will be faced with an ever more difficult classes and will have to learn to balance our schedules and find what really makes us successful.

What should you do if someone calls you lazy for simply being a senior or taking senior privilege?

You should wear that blue or white gown on June 20th, in the middle of that football field, and flip your tassel over on your cap and smile. A smile, your biggest smile, signifying that you are no longer a high school senior, but now a college freshman.