Senior year brings a lot of decisions, choices and opportunities. Yet, the chance to have life experiences and real-world fun can sometimes be lost in the midst of being a senior. To be able to counteract this, incoming seniors need to take advantage of their summer before senior year to maximize their opportunities.
Starting off, taking advantage of activities such as joining local clubs and recreation sports is something many seniors fall away from as they move on. In college, recreational sports are an event that takes place all over campuses. By joining these in your local community, it will not only give you an outlet to have fun but also get some experience before going into college blind. A few of these sports in specific are soccer, flag football and pickleball.
Beyond sports, being able to take the chance to travel is an opportunity seniors will soon lose. After you graduate, it will be a summer of relief but also quickly turn into college preparations. This forces seniors to not always be able to take senior trips after graduation because of conflicting schedules. The summer before senior year is not bound by graduation parties and new responsibilities, making it a prime time to take trips to places you have always wanted to go.
Another thing to do before senior year is gathering letters of recommendation and preparing personal essays. Letters of recommendation are a crucial part of the college application process and take a lot of time to gather final copies. By working on this before the common application opens, it will keep stress to a minimum and give teachers extra time to make sure the letter is written correctly. This will also allow the quality of the letters to be better and give more time for corrections to be made.
When it comes to writing a personal essay, it can take a long time to just find what you are even going to write about. For many students, starting to write is the hardest and longest part of the process. Topics are supposed to showcase you as a person and allow the reader to feel as they know you simply by reading your essay. A good essay will not come overnight but instead will take time to develop and become what it is supposed to be. By jumping into action early, it eliminates the fear of missing deadlines and gives time for them to be edited by teachers.
Overall, senior year will bring many highs and lows but it is important to maximize time before walking into school building. Stress of applying to college, missing fun opportunities and school work will add up quickly as the year progresses. By taking action early on not only traveling but important aspects of college applications will give seniors the chance to breathe and relax before the pressure kicks in.