Early-morning bedtimes and late-night adventures. Fun-filled vacations and beach trips. Hours of lounging and hanging with friends and never-ending nights that turned into endless days.

Yes, these are the memories of summertime fun that [unfortunately] came to an abrupt end.

As August approached, the thought of the upcoming school year was almost nonexistent as I packed to go on my extended family trip to the beach.  Nor was it on my mind as I celebrated my 17th birthday (on the 17th might I add; once-in-a-lifetime experience right there).

In fact, the beginning of school did not truly become a reality for me until August 25th as I collected binders and folders into my “book bag” and prepared for my “senior year.”

A senior, to me, was a student who would be bombarded with applications, expectations and stress before reaching the end of a twelve-year, public education system and dropped off at the beginning of a whole new “world.” Senior year, to me, would be the final year before I – along with other high-school graduates – would have to face “reality.”

However, senior year – the one that arrived after three incredibly long years – that would bring more questions than answers and more fears than comforts, has not been so bad.

Walking into Paint Branch at 7 a.m. as a senior at the very end of August was surprisingly not as hard as I imagined, while it was still far too early than my summertime body and mind was used to. It brought excitement and pleasure to see all my friends together, remember how I met and got to know each one of them and all the entertaining and bonding memories that we’ve shared, pass by my old classrooms that reminded me of my previous three years and the many pleasant conversations, activities and lessons.

As a freshman, I couldn’t wait to be a senior and now, looking back, I wish that I had spent more time enjoying freshman year. I should have gone to more games and been more supportive of my fellow Panthers in their many endeavors instead of focusing so much of my energy on being academic.

I had a lot of expectations about what it meant to be a senior.  One thing in particular was the overwhelming excitement of graduation and the extremely tiresome burden of filing out college applications and focusing on schoolwork.

While the countdown to May 29th, 2014 has already started for me, I feel a lot less focused on the number of days and hours until I walk across the stage at Constitution Hall and much more looking forward to the memories I’ll make this year.

The beginning of school this time around is not as mundane, and I am certainly not as indifferent as I have been since the beginning of middle school. Not that I plan on shedding all of my “school year” habits, or even that I’ll make a huge effort to immerse myself in Paint Branch. That, even with the knowledge of these finite opportunities to experience more of what Paint Branch has to offer, remains incredibly unlikely. But I do plan on taking the time and putting a sufficient amount of energy into taking advantage of my new found “freedoms,” which are admittedly few and far from actual freedoms,  as a senior.