High School Senior

It’s hard to believe our oldest son is graduating high school in two months! Nearly 18 years have flown by. The past seven months, his senior year of high school, have moved especially fast.

Not sure why high school senior year is so hectic.  Perhaps it’s because we try to cram a whole lot of living in the final year of school. Maybe this just happens to every family with a senior.

It started last summer. We visited four different college campuses during two extended family trips. College tours in the COVID environment look a lot different than they used to.

Our son did the online tour and research, then we wandered around campus with map in hand looking like tourists trying to find landmarks. Our younger son tagged along and got to soak in the experience. We were certainly a sight!

Our son’s final academic year in high school was just as challenging as his preceding three years. He has taken 18 advanced placement classes over the course of his high school career. Not only will this give him a head start in college, but it will also save some tuition money.

This year he had an additional challenge, dual enrollment at a local community college. He learned a valuable lesson, namely, college is hard! He received his first B in 13 years of school. Thankfully, it looks like he’ll bring home A’s in his other subjects. He also managed to bang out a 35 on the ACT after his 5th attempt.

Almost concurrent with submitting his college applications last fall, he underwent a routine but fairly significant surgery. It was something we needed to take care of for a while but the pressure was on to complete it in the fall so he could recover in time for this spring’s high school tennis season.  Very thankful he made a quick and full recovery.

And then there was applying to college. I won’t rehash my lamentations about the college application process. You can read my observations here. Our son completed the myriad of requirements, applied and was thankfully accepted to a great school.

On top of all that, our son has been living it up his senior year. I think his social life doubled in activity. He is spending a lot more time with friends and is scheduled to attend a total of four formal events this year. Additionally, somehow along the way, he became a gym rat. He lifts a couple of hours nearly every day with friends.

So is the point of this blog to brag on my kid? Well, maybe a little. I really can’t put into words how incredibly proud I am of this young man and all he’s worked to achieve thus far.

That being said, the true purpose of this week’s blog is a word of caution and comfort to the parents of upcoming high school seniors. You see, our son accomplished all these things while suffering from a condition that grips many high school seniors across the nation.

He is suffering from a case of senioritis! What is senioritis? We’ve all seen it before. I know I had a bad case my senior year. Senioritis includes such symptoms as delusions of omniscience, intermittent hearing loss, procrastinating until the very last minute, sleeping 16 hours when there is a lot to get done and a general disregard for authority.

Unfortunately, there is no known cure. Like many conditions, one can only treat the symptoms. Treatment includes near constant prodding, bribing, cajoling and the occasional threat.

Thankfully, senioritis usually ends upon the young person’s entry to the real world when they realize their status just changed to small fish in a very big pond.

We are very proud of our son, he has achieved so much in high school. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him. Our family is living proof that together, a high school senior can overcome senioritis and achieve their goals. I think after he walks across that stage in May, I’m going to need a vacation!

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