By Rachel Hankinson — “I DON’T CARE!” “I’VE HAD ENOUGH, I’VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON’T CARE ANYMORE!”

Amen Harry Potter, amen. Everyone screams something like this at one point during their last year, or multiple times throughout. This year held a lot of new prospects for us; picking out colleges, being leaders, senior option and most importantly having the authority to boss the under classmen around. No I joke we love you guys. But the predominant feelings during senior year are something along the lines of “Dear lord I cannot get out of bed.” and “It’s April, I’m done.”

While I am extremely happy to be moving on to the next big step in my life, high school was an important part in my life. These four years shape a lot about your personality and how you are going to face challenges. The best advice I can give is to keep in mind that while you may be going through a rough time, it is going to end. The homework that you forgot to do will not haunt you forever, silly drama is not going to last and high school will come to an end. Learn to let the little things go and move on.

I would also advice to try your hardest in what your love. For me, cross-country and news staff were the biggest part of my high school career. Cross-country taught me how to persevere both physically and mentally. I learned that when you truly commit to something you will see the results, that going the distance is worth it. News staff taught me practical lessons of life; how to work and communicate with people, to make deadlines and how to deal with a raging anger that only news staff can elicit. Both introduced me to amazing people and gave me some of the best memories of my life.

And so, to conclude with my favorite person yet again, “It Is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

[Updated Aug. 7, 2017: This article has been reformatted for consistency.]