Are we there yet?

Even though next week is finals and usually we are all preparing for our exams at this time, this year I feel something different. It feels like we are already over the hump and that class is just something to occupy our time. I didn't really believe people when they said senior year almost drove them insane by recently I have come to understand the truth to their words. Maybe it is because I have finished my college applications and already know two schools I made it into and what I want to do at those schools. Maybe it is because the colleges don't check second semester grades and now we are almost to that second senior semester. Either way my motivation has dropped greatly and I'm finding it increasingly hard to get up the ability to do my work. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who would rather spend their day in the city, just taking it all in or driving somewhere new with friends. We are taught to take the things we learn in school and use them in the real world, I feel that the real world should be our school. We should not be spending most of our days in classrooms and then going home to do work, we should be out seeing the world. This time of year it is terrible because we wake up before the sun and as we leave the school the sun is already setting. Maybe I am crazy and just am going through a phase but I really doubt it. I am sure that those of you who know what you want to do in life would rather be doing that than be at school, I mean in my case there are some nights where I would rather be sleeping in a ditch on the road to baghdad than be here going to school. If the world is our classroom, why do we spend so much time in just a single building where our only contacts with the world are the windows we gaze out of?

Comments

[ShecarraJ]

SOmeone told me that senior year was a piece of cake. Who ever told me that was full of lies. It is only easy once you finish with college applications. after that you do not really have to be productive. Although you still should keep your grades up. Anyways we are almost done, and class now is just to keep you busy.

[lucianarez]

Well, in answer to your question Mr. Lee, we spend all this time in a single building because we are attempting to learn everything that's being put in front of us everyday by our teachers. It's unfortunate that our days have to be so monotonous and it's a shame that we can't spend more time outdoors, but how do you suggest we acquire the general knowledge we are taught in high school?
Perhaps we should devise an educational program that combines everything you mentioned. Maybe we can do it the European way. I wonder if that would work? What do you guys think?
Or maybe it can just be a little potpurri of being out in the real world, enjoying a few more hours of sun, and spending a day in the city. And I'm being totally serious. I mean, so many kids complain about school and the routine...maybe something needs to be done to spice it up a little bit. I'd really like to make more suggestions but quite honestly I have none.

[Colin Michael P.]

I too have been told that senior year is a breeze. But my experience in high school has been climbing a mountain that gets steeper and steeper. Each year has been harder than the one before it and I have been growing more and more restless. I've never had a problem getting my work done or finding the motivation to do so, but this year has been a completely different story. Even towards the beginning of the year I found it unusually hard to do simple assignments. Of course everyone would agree that it's just senioritis, but to be honest, I'm not really rushing to get out of here. Everything's simple and handed to us on a platter (not quite silver though). Lee, in response to you saying we should be out in the real world instead of sitting in class rooms, we will go out there in due time. I kind of think of college like the real world with training wheels, and all other earlier schooling like a tricylcle. haha. We have to move our way up. But anyway, I like it here. Of course when the time comes to go off to college I'm going to be excited, thrilled, and nervous, but right now, I'm content with the daily grind of high school life, and like you said Lee, gazing out windows all day.

[Cam Anton]

Lee-
I know exactly what you mean. Even though the heebie-jeebies about college are starting to kick in and I figure I could wait a little longer for it to happen, I find myself dreading winter and hoping for spring. There are days where I just don't want to go to school and would rather be somewhere else. But I keep on going. I don't know how, but I do.

[TrishK.]

Lee....I feel your pain. I have already been excepted to some colleges so I now know that I will at least be going somewhere. That makes it so hard to push myself to do this in school. I dont even want to get up in thee morning. I know it sounds so lazy, but I know Im not the only senior who feels this way. But yea I wish we had classes outside or something..it would be so much more interesting and exciting and make me really really motivated.

[TrishK.]

woops I mean accepted..hhaa

[Camille Gebert]

Agreeing with Colin, each year for me has been drastically harder than the last. I too have never had a problem getting homework done, on time, or finding the motivation to do so, or to even study, however, my daily struggles of finding time to get everything done- whether it be homework, sports, musicals, volunteering, work, family, tutors, college, or even some personal down time. My excitement for college has been postponed, put on hold, pushed way into the back of my mind, as we near the end of the sememster and a dreadful week of very hard finals. Senior year has a very unique aspect of it, like everyone grows up a little. We all know that we will be taking on the responsibility of being on our own next year, and are usually excited about that task, however, before we start thinking about the future, we must learn to get through each day while we are in high school. I personally am a big fan of high school, and could hang around here at Oak Park for a little while longer. It's sad that the ever so boring and monotomous system of actual school can take away the overall experience of being a student at OPRF. I don't know, maybe something can be done, maybe something can change. All I know is that it's about time we start enjoying our last months at Oak Park, and accept the fact that senior year, if you chose to stay motivitated, will be hard, as will anything you wish to pursue in your life in the future.