To the junior class of 2012: as the school year comes to an end, you start your transition to senior year. Usually, I would join my senior class and scream different chants to show you that the class of ‘11 is the better class. But instead, I have decided to help you guys out and share some helpful advice for you to enjoy your senior year as much as possible. I know it would have helped me if I had received some advice my junior year from a senior because it would have prepared me for the future responsibilities as a senior. Hopefully, my advice can be beneficial to you. So without further ado, I present JP’s helpful hints for senior year.

The first on the list is the dreadful college application process. If you want to fully enjoy your senior year from the beginning, do not hesitate to start those applications as early as possible. Your best bet is to start doing those college applications during the summer.
Now I know what’s going to happen – you say you’re going to start the applications in the summer but you won’t; at least that’s what happened to me. So I urge you to actually start and finish most if not all of your college applications by the beginning of the next school year.

College applications are the most stressful process of senior year. If you leave the applications for the beginning of the school year, you are going to regret it. I mean, let’s be realistic, during the first couple of weeks of school, no one is ready to do work when they just had summer vacation. You are going to have to do regular school work. You do not want to add college applications to your workload.

Next on the list, scholarships. Do not forget about the scholarships. They are the easiest way to get money; seriously, they are. You can win mad money by merely applying for them. Some scholarships do not even require an essay; you just apply and BAM, you are eligible to win cash. The trick to master scholarships is to watch out for the deadlines. The one thing you do not want to do is miss out on free money because you missed the deadline for it. There are millions of scholarships out there. It is your job to go out and find them.

You cannot mention senior year without the unavoidable SENIORITIS. I warn you, do not catch senioritis. It feels good at first, but then you pay the consequences when all of your grades are the worst that they can possibly be. When that happens, you add more stress to yourself because now you put graduation in jeopardy.

Senioritis will be tempting and it is quite easy to catch, but I urge you to keep working throughout the entire year, especially the third and fourth nine weeks, because you will want to finish high school knowing that you tried your hardest throughout the year without holding back.

Finally, make the best of your senior year. I promise you, it is the best year out of all of your other years in high school, but it is also the fastest. In two days I will graduate from Miami Palmetto Senior High School and begin another chapter in my life: college.

This is the one year that you do not want to take for granted. Your last year in high school is your most exciting. Make your senior year the best year because of the memories you can create with the endless events and activities, then keep throughout college, and carry with you for the rest of your life.

Juniors I leave you with this last piece of advice: take advantage of the time, because in a blink of an eye, your senior year will be over.