As I approach the middle of my last semester in High School, the reality of leaving high school has finally began to hit me. For many of us High School Seniors, the end of Grade 12 marks the end of our times living at home, the separation of friends whom you’ve known since as far back as elementary, the beginning of adulthood, and the beginning of an entirely new chapter in our lives. I have gathered a few points that I deem to be crucial for a high school senior. These thoughts that are strictly of my own opinion, and this post is no more than a rant on my feelings for how grade 12 should be.
As cliche as it sounds, Grade 12 should really be the year where students strive to fully embrace and enjoy every detail of this year to its fullest. In fact, I would propose that for our final semester, grades should no longer be the priority. We have all been working so hard for the past 12 year (whether that means memorizing the different parts of the heart and their functions, or re-reading the same verse of Hamlet for the 15th time in order to truly understand Shakespeare’s subtle message) that we truly do deserve a rest. You have submitted your college applications and finished those scholarship essays; now is the time to relax and enjoy the rest of your final year. I am not saying that you should begin skipping every second day, and I’m certainly not suggesting that you should stay home and watch tv all day instead of coming to school. What I am saying is that perhaps a few grades of 80 here and there is fine (especially all you IB kids out there), and that now is the time to truly pursue what you love doing.
Take some of the time that you would normally use to perfect your power-point presentation to enjoy activities with your friends (especially those whom you won’t be with after high school), to do something that you’ve always wanted to do (like trying out for your school’s talent show), to try/learn something new, and to finally gather up the courage to look that grade 11 teacher who made your life painful in the eye, and tell him/her what you thought of his/her class (kidding about this one, don’t actually do it)!
High School is certainly one of the most memorable parts of a person’s life, and Grade 12 is the climax of it all. Don’t let yourself be pinned down by those TOK essays or Physics Labs anymore. Enjoy the rest of the semester and let your interests run free, because only a quarter of the education that one acquires from school actually comes from the academic courses themselves; the other 75% comes from social interactions and the various experiences that you immerse yourself in outside of the classroom. This is the conclusion to 12 years of your life, and as the saying goes, let it go off with a bang!