By Lily Sternlieb ‘24, Feature Editor

Photo courtesy of Newark Academy

Student jumping into the darkness of Senior Year together!

You have an Econ IA due on Tuesday which you haven’t touched. A Spanish oral first period followed by a two-day English in-class essay, where you’ve name dropped enough literary devices to at least get around the B-range. You get home from your sports practice every night and get straight to work, until enough time has passed that it’s acceptable to give up and scroll through your application portals for 20 minutes. Five college supplementals have to be written by the weekend, and enough caffeine courses through your veins to power a small engine. Welcome to Senior Year. Excited yet?

Yet, a part of twelfth grade has been rather unexpected: how the college office is filled with a steady hum of conversation from 8:00 to 4:00, or how people who have never spoken before commiserate together like old friends about the latest Physics test in the lunch line. In our final year, the senior class has bonded together one last time, laughing through hellish exams, tough teachers, and rejection letters. Have I gotten too sentimental towards the end of my teenage years, or is it true that senior trauma brings us together? As always, my dear readers, I asked other students to give me the answers.

Most students I spoke with, surprisingly, agreed with me.  A trusted friend, Alyssa Lee ‘24, wrote, “Yes, bonding over shared trauma. I don’t know, people just talk more because they relate to each other’s stresses.” I agree with Alyssa: the shared burden of applying to college allows the senior class to have an overarching connection that carries into every conversation, no matter the original topic. Alexa Jacob ‘24, another close confidant and star softballer, believes that instead “The corridor is the bonding experience. When it started snowing we all ran out to the snow and [the experience] encouraged community.” While I was noticeably not invited to this little icey foray, the corridor does help seniors form connections with other students they might not usually interact or have classes with. 

Another anonymous senior holds a more big-picture perspective, saying, “Because we know that there is only one year left, we should make the most of it. I feel that because we probably won’t see some of these people ever again that we should branch out and get to know them.” Wow, and I thought I was being bleak! This student, who shall still remain nameless, gives a different, if a little depressing, outlook on the senior experience. If this is our last year together then shouldn’t we make the most of it and not take anyone or anything for granted? See, I told you we were getting soft!  

The last student I spoke to had an opposing point of view on the grade’s new-found closeness: “I think we’ve gotten closer but for the wrong reasons. We’re united because we share the same stress and anxieties about college. We should be getting closer through bonding because this is our last year.” To this I say, what’s with the doom and gloom? Is it really a less authentic connection if the connection is made through shared negative experiences and feelings? The answer to that my dear readers is, I don’t know! That’s a question above my pay grade and nonexistent “Minuteman” staff salary! 

To all the non-senior students reading this, I’m sure you’re probably nervous. After all, talking about college and senior year is the biggest of bogeymen these days in our school. So don’t worry, relax, try to not crowd the hallways too much (it’s annoying), and most importantly, stop taking all the dessert during 4th period. And to my fellow seniors, it’s been a pleasure to cry and laugh beside you because, all jokes aside, I have a feeling these trauma bonds are strong enough to last long after we graduate.