The Last Year: Still Kids

The Last Year: Still Kids

Tessa Paulsen, Staff Writer

We are just moments away, guys! It’s so hard to believe. How many times have I said that “we are just this much time away from graduation”? Maybe a hundred. I still chuckle when people say I’m all grown up. No way. I still sleep with a stuffed animal – there is no way I am “all grown up.” We are just moments away, guys! It’s so hard to believe. How many times have I said that “we are just this much time away from graduation”? Maybe a hundred. I still chuckle when people say I’m all grown up. No way. I still sleep with a stuffed animal – there is no way I am “all grown up.”

In fact, I don’t think any of us are. Yeah, some of us may be 18, but we are nowhere near adults. I mean we still have to ask to go to the bathroom, but we are expected to understand taxes next year. I just think it’s funny. I have always been ready to bolt out of Maryland and start anew but now, looking back, I laugh. Why was I trying so hard to grow up?

Junior year is the year I call “the beast.” At the end of it, you feel like an 80-year-old war veteran. And senior year is completely different. Everyone is back to being a 7-year-old again – laughing and not really having a care in the world. This year, I have had the most reminders that I am still just a kid.

When I was looking at colleges, I was looking at the University of San Diego and McGill in Montreal. I had learned – from a two-day drive to Canada – the idea of being so far away, so alone and independent, terrified me. That’s when I really understood that I am nowhere near being a fully functional “adult.”

We are not grown-ups at all, and we should hold on to that for the time we have left as kids. Enjoy these last few months at home – or if you are working or a commuter student next year – enjoy this summer when people may still see you as a real kid. Sleep just because you can, maybe go a whole day just eating junk food, or spend the whole day with friends you might not see for a while.

We might be leaving high school, but we are not adults. We are just kids with diplomas. We still sing “High School Musical” when anyone says, “We’re all in this together.” We still quote Spongebob and have Disney movie marathons. We still get lunches packed for us and dinner made without us helping. After AP exams, the AP bio students had a water balloon fight! We might have taken college-level classes but we still have the mindsets of children.

Take these last few months and relish the fact that not everything is as serious as it seems. We are still just kids. We are going to mess up and fail at some things, and that’s perfectly fine. We are still growing up but not too fast.