Welcome back…if you dare By: Matt Kirschner Class of 2001, this is the moment you have waited for. Senior year the most laid-back, relaxing, stress-free year of your high-school existence. As the big fish in the small (or in South Brunswick’s case, enormous) pond, you are in charge of the rest of the school. Underclassmen are not only forced to respect, but to also fear you and acknowledge your superiority. Teachers and their formerly endless piles of work will quickly take a backseat to your desires, allowing you to instead grab your sunglasses and catch some rays illuminating off of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling of your first floor classroom. Summer just doesn’t end for the seniors… But if this were at all true, why is the Class of 2001 so stressed entering their final year? The now obvious answer is because these stereotypes are anything but true. Perspectives for this year’s in-coming seniors have changed a grand amount from when they first stepped foot into South Brunswick’s mammoth high school. While they may be able to live these dreams toward the end of the year, they have quickly been forced into an early (though important) realization. With great power, first comes great responsibility. The seniors have little or no time to concern themselves with the fear and respect of the underclassmen. They are instead too busy gathering college applications and running back and forth between counselors and teachers asking for paperwork and recommendations. And let us not mention the college entrance personal essays and eventually narrowing the college choices down to a select few who will be fortunate enough to receive their applications. Then, the wait begins. It isn’t enough that colleges force the seniors to stress themselves beyond belief simply completing the applications. They find it quite necessary to make them wait for two to three months to learn the status of the application. The negative thoughts and doubts will fill their heads, forcing out any hope for those months, until they finally receive a response, an all-important yes or no. There is no consolation prize for them. But first, they must simply make it through the school year. Isn’t senior year supposed to be a cakewalk? They must first work their hardest to earn that piece of cake. Seniors force themselves to keep their grades up to their normal standards or even higher in order to attract the college of their choice. Put down those sunglasses, seniors, it's time for a pop quiz. Your future depends on every quiz, every test, every essay, every note you take needs to be at its very best. Or else you won’t go to college. Well, maybe that’s stretching it but nonetheless these are the seniors force this pressure upon themselves everyday throughout the school year. That doesn’t seem to be as much fun as they thought it would be. Maybe senior year won’t be the most stress-free year of your high school life, but it will be fun. Still the big fish in the pond, you simply have that extra-special responsibility that normally comes with such supremacy. Your final year will be one of the best most enjoyable years of your high school career…and your life Eventually…