ELAINE GU
Gargoyle senior editor
Posted Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008

SENIOR YEAR. IT'S what most high school students look forward to.

It's the final year of youth before embarking on an independent, self-discovery journey of adulthood.

It's a year of getting into the best classes, being able to pick the best lockers, and feeling a sense of superiority over all the little underclassmen.

I'd been looking forward to senior year for a long time. When I was a subfreshman, I was in awe of the tall, commandeering seniors. When I was a junior, I was jealous of how carefree and happy they were during second semester.

This past summer, my friends and I would sometimes just randomly burst out and exclaim, "We're going to be seniors!" Now it's finally my turn.

However, the reality of it all really hasn't hit me yet. An entire semester has passed by, but everything seems to be a blur. Sundays seem to blend into Mondays, and I just haven't had the time to stop and take it all in.

Before our last cross country meet of the season at our home course, one of my teammates posted signs around the school, advertising the cross country "senior night." I asked myself, "Senior night? Since when did cross country have senior night?"

But then I realized, "Wow, I am that senior. This is supposed to be my night." I was excited, but at the same time I was sad because I realized that this was the last race I would ever run on my home course.

While I undergo the whirlpool of college apps, standardized testing, and all the other pains that accompany senior year, I’m motivated by the future that I will have.

In two weeks, I will have submitted all of my college apps, and then my future is in the hands of the various admissions committees. That's kind of scary. I have absolutely no idea where I will be by this time next year, but I find the uncertainty of it all highly appealing.

At the same time, I know that it will be hard for me to let go of my life here. I'm not the most sentimental person, but Uni really has been a special place. After more than four years of walking down the hallways, rushing back from Kenney Gym after PE, and going to class in the same few classrooms, I have come to see Uni as a home. On many days, I probably spend more time in this building and Kenney than I spend at my own house.

As a home, Uni has been very providing. Within the walls of this building, I have learned about Aristotle's theory of spontaneous generation and that the "dipole" in dipole-dipole bonds is pronounced "di-pole," not "dipple." I have learned to read Latin, the meaning of bildungsroman, and that, according to Plato, we'll never attain true knowledge, but we can at least keep trying.

Within these walls, I have met people whom I know I will continue to be in touch with long after high school. I have met teachers whom I actually talk to outside of class. I have become much more athletic through our intense physical education program.

Of course, there were times when I wished I attended a different school. There were times when I just didn't feel like running fitness, times when I wish I didn't have so much homework, and times when I just wished that I didn't have to see the same people every day.

However, in the end, I'm grateful for all that Uni has provided me. I'm grateful for the dedicated staff who truly care about the education of their students. I'm grateful for the close-knit community that the school provides.

After completing much of Uni's extensive curriculum and gaining life experience through many of the activities provided here, I feel extremely prepared for college and wherever else life takes me.