Three years have gone by, but one more lingers in the face of every senior awaiting their final stretch of high school. As each day creeps towards their eventual goodbye, many students reflect on their time in high school while just as eagerly anticipating the next step in their lives.
“[Senior nostalgia] is like the feeling of you growing up and looking back on those years past,” Danica Richmond (12) said. “It’s kind of like a review of your whole life and how you’ve been in school forever. And for seniors, you’re finally closing that door and walking into a new one.”
Although senior year is just one more year of classes and one more year of high school, it comes with a very different feeling for many students. As seniors, students may feel more compelled to participate in school activities to guide the school spirit in their high school.
“I’ve seen everyone older than me do [all the senior activities] and when they did it, I was like ‘Oh, now it’s my turn to do it,’ so it feels like it’s like a rite of passage,” Robin Baroff (12) said. “I want to do everything that I was excited to do as a freshman.”
Senior activities are a large part of the experience of senior year. From senior sunset at the beginning of the year to senior sunset at the end, each activity can become a moment for seniors to recognize how their lives are preparing for a new chapter in their lives.
“[Senior year is] a moment in your life right before you go through changes that you never have before,” Maddox Stone (12) said. “I mean, you’re going from living with your parents and now you’re kind of just on your own for the most part. And you look at those times right before you know that something’s going to change … [And] you want to look at times where you didn’t have to worry about things like college applications, transcripts [and] what you want to do with the rest of your life.”
Among the many ways seniors celebrate their final year, nostalgic traditions like creating time capsules, recreating childhood pictures and wearing backpacks with a student’s favorite childhood character have become a symbolic gesture of the upcoming change in their lives. These acts can serve as a small, but often funny, memento of how much students have grown.
“I just feel like bringing back those [childhood traditions] kind of gives us back a remembrance of all that we’ve come through and it kind of puts us back in that space like last versus first,” Richmond said. “That contrast really is like the epitome of senior year. [So, seniors] try to make it as special as possible, and it’s kind of like giving a thank you to your younger self.”
Although senior year comes with many perks, there always seems to be one thing holding many students back: senioritis. After the initial excitement of their final year wears off, many seniors find it hard to keep up their grades, attend school events and even attend school.
“[Senioritis is] awful,” Baroff said. “It’s like everything that I should be excited for, I just am not at all. But even if right now, it doesn’t seem as exciting … I still go to the games. I still got the [kid] backpack. I’m going to paint my parking spot. So, I’m going to do all the things, but … all I want to do is graduate. I’m trying to do the most I can so that way when [senior year] is over and when I graduate and I’m looking back on the year I feel content.”
While senioritis can make students feel as if the year is dragging on, many students revert to the feeling of senior nostalgia to bring them back into the right mindset. Traditions, memories and special events can serve as a reminder that it is their final year and that their time at White Station High School will soon come to a close.
“It’s like senior nostalgia is kind of like the remedy for senioritis,” Richmond said. “It’s like every time I get senioritis, I don’t want to come to school or I’m so over school. It’s something about … [the feeling you get], like I’m almost done.”
Upon entering their final year, seniors can reflect on the lessons they have learned throughout high school. Many seniors feel it is best for any rising senior to make the most of what time they have left, and to do so in a way that makes them happy.
“I think as long as you go through the motion[s] of your … life in a way that makes you feel fulfilled or happy, it’s okay to just let yourself enjoy what you have left,” Stone said. “You’ve got to branch out … [and] engage more with the community … There are a lot of really cool [clubs] going on right now. I myself am the President of the greatest club this school has ever seen called White Station Music Review Club … And then there are a few other clubs that that I’ve also personally been in, like Spruce Up Sparta, which is a very fun club … that helped grow the school.”
Looking beyond graduation, class reunions serve as a way to reconnect students with their old classmates, allowing them to reminisce on their high school experiences for many years to come. The bonds formed throughout high school often create a lasting sense of community, and for some, the anticipation of reunions serves as a reminder of just how special their class truly is.
“[I am excited for our reunion because] I feel like I want to see how everyone is excelling in life,” Richmond said. “I think that it’s so cute that people keep that tradition up because we are a close-knit class. So I feel like it’ll really be a great thing to see. The Class of 2025 is so laid back and chill … We do our work, you know, we’re on our business and we’re fun. We can throw a party; we can have a little fun … I just want to say I’m so proud of all of us and I’m so glad to be doing this with y’all. I wouldn’t want to do it with any other class.”
