As the high school clock winds down

Of course, when we request a particular speed, time rarely obliges, and often tends to do just the opposite. It seems no amount of pleading or cajoling will convince it to do anything but plod along at its usual rate. Tick, tick, tick.

As a high school senior, I reflect often about time’s reliable refusal to honor requests. Especially in the middle of second semester, as graduation and college approach, my peers and I are keenly aware of each minute in the day and of each day in the calendar. We’re anxious to truly begin our foray into the world, but also somewhat hesitant, knowing the magnitude of the transition that lies ahead.

Now that I’ve reached my final semester, I feel a bit as if I’m straddling two worlds, of high school and college. In under half a year, the everyday foundations of my life will change greatly, necessitating an adjustment to an environment new in nearly every imaginable capacity.

Preparing for this shift can dominate a high school senior’s thoughts. This huge transition seems a bit odd alongside the normal goings-on of the rest of school, which progresses, for the most part, just as it did for us as juniors and sophomores.  

Second semester evolves into an extended goodbye to high school. More and more, I’ve realized that the memories being created now are some of the last of the social groups, classes and activities that over the past four years have defined my life. Next year, many of us will study at a school away from our families, which have defined our lives since day one.

Several dichotomies are tied to this transition. For months, many seniors have waited for college decisions, with impatience to reach the end of a long process, but also perhaps with apprehension toward the significant choices that getting decisions involves, and sometimes also the disappointment that the thin envelope (now more accurately the short e-mail) brings.

Many are eager to leave home, mentally ready to carve out a more independent existence. However, I believe that for everyone at least a tinge of nervousness exists, coming from not fully knowing what the next year will hold, or what standing on one’s own will feel like.

Opposites are also built into the final months of our activities. Since January, I’ve excitedly awaited performance week of Aragon’s spring show, which completed its run this past Sunday. Since then, I’ve been wishing that time had moved just a little slower, so I could have absorbed more of the amazing moments along the way. In many activities — sports, clubs, youth groups — the last months become about solidifying ties, and perhaps examining our accomplishments and how our involvement has influenced who we are today.

I suppose it’s considerate, and downright impressive, that time continues its determinedly steady pace in spite of the all the demands that are placed on it. After all, no matter how inconstant time can seem to be, one thing is always true — it moves forward. I think of this as the most salient point, as my high school years come to a close. Staring at the clock is tempting, but when I do so, my attention narrows to only the "tick, tick, tick”… My goal in the final moments of this stage in my life is to seize the opportunities available, and to continue exploring the aspects of high school that I cherish.

Ari Brenner is a senior at Aragon High School. Student News can be reached at studentnews@smdailyjournal.com.