Every year as a Lasso tradition, we publish advice for each grade for the start of the year, by writers who just finished that grade. You can read advice for seniors, sophomores, and freshmen here.

Pick all the best spots. 

When the old building closed before we returned to in-person school last year, I was very sad to realize my friends and I would never get to lounge around in the senior courtyard during lunches and free blocks. But it turns out that the ultra-American seniors-rule-the-school thing is fun no matter which building you’re in. Spend all your lunches on the third floor patios! Find the coziest places to study around the building. Et cetera. You get first dibs this year, and it’s very very fun. 

Find friends you can have healthy talks about the future with. 

If you’re talking about applications all the time, you’re going to stress out yourself and everyone around you. Don’t be that person. But if you never talk about it with anyone, you can feel like you’re completely on your own during a very new, intimidating process. So strike a balance – find a couple friends you trust, and schedule specific times throughout the year to talk through college apps or career plans or whatever you’re doing after you graduate. Preferably outside of school. It’s super helpful. And it means you can use all the other times you are with friends or classmates to truly enjoy each other’s company.

You don’t have to do everything.

You will be working hard in a ton of classes and planning for the future and probably still navigating the pandemic, in whatever state it may be in. So you don’t have to be the president of every club. Pick a few of the extracurricular things that are most important to you and say no to the rest. For real. It will make your life so much better!

Be friendly to everyone. Everyone!

My senior year brought out an unusual level of camaraderie in my class, I think, because life sucked for a lot of it and all we really had going for us was that we were… all in this together. 

It’s my understanding, however, that that’s what senior year is always supposed to be like. So fill your senior year with all the ultra-positive High School Musical vibes that you can. Be friendly to everyone – the classmates you’ve never really talked to, the underclassmen you see in the halls, all your teachers, all the staff, everyone. Stand hand and hand, make your dreams come true… you get it. Go Wildcats!

Soak up all the small senior year moments. 

My class missed out on a lot of classic, small senior year memories, but all the ones we did get were so special.  Chatting in the parking lot before school starts, or getting ready for the school dances, or getting unexpectedly interested in a lesson from class – all those sweet, uniquely high school moments are the best. I am so happy I have some of those memories from senior year to look back on. So take it all in. And enjoy 🙂