In any long-distance race, the best advice is to expend your energy evenly and go full speed at the finish line. As in, limbs-burning-turbo-booster-didn’t-know-you-had-it-in-you full speed. But now that that finish line (A.K.A. January 1st, regular decision deadline) is in sight, the end is a scary reality that you might feel tremendously underprepared for if you’re anything like me.

It feels like one moment you were ludicrously complaining about how difficult biology is, and the next you’re suddenly trying to conglomerate everything you’ve been doing for the past few years into some sort of career path.

And apart from college admissions, there’s always the usual fear of the unknown that accompanies every new school year as you fretfully compare your schedule to those of your friends, and this, of course, brings out all of the fears you’ve been harboring for your last year of high school, rational or not.

So without further ado, I present to you…

TOP TEN FEARS FOR SENIOR YEAR

1. Being mistaken for a sophomore

I’m going to put this at number one because it is a very real possibility, and that’s what makes it all the more terrifying. Who wants to be a sophomore?

2. Getting lost in the school even though you’ve been here for 2 full school years

The builders made it so easy, too. The entire school is shaped like an octopus, which should be impossible to mess up in theory, but come September you’ll definitely still be wondering where E hall is and whether or not it even exists.

3. Senior Prank Gone Wrong

I’m sure we all remember the Great Roll… or not, because it didn’t happen. I just want some safe fun that won’t get me banned from school events, because if I don’t go to prom because of some watermelon there will be a problem.

4. Picking the same prom dress as somebody else

This one might be self-explanatory. Prom is a big deal! I’m sure all of the guys are also fretting over whether somebody else will have a black tuxedo this year.

5. Being expected to be a role model

Let’s face it… senioritis is VERY real and I am a first grader at heart. If anything, I will be looking to the juniors for motivation and advice and knowing the juniors this year, this will not end well for any parties involved.

6. Getting into a college

Even just one. Please. (And on top of that, learning not to base your self worth off of admissions that are arbitrarily determined by a stranger who evaluates the impressiveness of the last four years of your life in ~7 minutes.) I’m sure the college admissions process will be a period of growth and self reflection for all of us.

7. Not applying to enough colleges

See above.

8. Applying to too many colleges

Imagine the workload you’ve condemned yourself to. If each school has 5 supplements and you’re applying to fifteen schools, that’s… a lot of writing to do.

9. Feeling old

Logically, seventeen is not old. I know this because whenever I interact with old people, they marvel at my youth and complain about this generation’s addiction to smartphones. When that stops happening, I will know beyond reasonable doubt that I am old. But try volunteering at an elementary school and being asked by the children whose mom you are. And finding out that they were born in 2012, the same year you graduated from 5th grade. And realizing that in less than a year, you’re going to be a college student and there is over 10 years of age difference between you and the child standing in front of you. Even worse, try interacting with little kids and not understanding their memes. That stuff hurts.

10. Missing everybody

Yeah… maybe this goes before being mistaken as a sophomore. To realize that all of the people you’ve grown up with and watched grow since sixth grade (and maybe even before that) are going their separate ways, and that their lives will not be rooted in East Brunswick forever is both bittersweet and terrifying. A friendly face is something you will never be able to take for granted again come next September, and the people you thought were inseparable will either stay lifelong friends or forget about each other entirely.

Before the end of senior year, you have to take a moment to appreciate everybody in the Class of 2020 who is going through this same amazing, awful experience at the same time as you, including the people you don’t hang out with outside of school but whose presence you always valued, the people you never had the courage to talk to but always secretly admired, and people you never knew but whose faces you recognized in the hallway.

This is the time to be completely honest with everyone in your life and confront all of the unanswered questions, because you will never have this opportunity again, you will never be seventeen again, and most horrifyingly, you will have to pay your own taxes in the near future. But everything has a silver lining, because you know that the experiences and new people that await you are equally as enthralling as the ones you’re leaving behind, and wherever it is you go, you will be able to create your own happiness. Your college experience is what you make of it, and all of the goodbyes I am so terrified to say are coming so soon. Good luck this senior year, everybody, and I wish you all the best!