It’s senior year. 

The dreadful feeling of coming to school five days a week vanishes as I find myself cruising through the day going from class to class, each similar to a study hall. 

These feelings lasted only for a short few hours on the first day of school until I heard a group of peers conversing about completed college applications, essay drafts and received letters of recommendation.

Trying to imagine where I will be a year from now is a stretched out thought, and I am starting to feel the pressure of beginning the college process as other classmates have gotten a head start. 

Where to start is the burning question because I feel as if I have been thrown into the pit of college applications without any prior assistance from counselors or any other staff members. 

I decided to begin with creating a list of schools, which required heavy research of location, cost and acceptance rate. 

Formulating the list also came with the burden of figuring out personal interests and choosing my future profession. Seniors are given a full 18 years to make this decision, but the options are so vast that it’s confusing.

College information and an influx of emails have overtaken my inbox at the beginning of this year from college counselors, making it hard to digest all the instructions and steps provided. 

Each school’s application has different requirements, whether that be additional essays or varying standardized test policies; therefore, the complexity results in nothing being completed within a few sittings.

Seniors must manage their time so they can finish work from classes, attend before and after school club meetings and keep up with sports while completing applications creating an extreme time crunch.

For students like me who have no older siblings, I know very little about what to expect.

Instead of making applications an afterthought, there should be assistance and emphasis on sophomore and junior years from college counselors and core class teachers. 

Understandably, a majority of the information may not be able to be completed until senior year but knowing what will be needed for the forms would be beneficial so students can start planning ahead of time. 

The preparation for what is to come can result in less procrastination and fewer all-nighters in the last year of high school. A headstart as an underclassman may just be the cure for ongoing stress seniors undergo.