Cups and cups of coffee are not a necessity throughout the day and night. Heavy eyelids are not an issue anymore. My anxiety is not heightened when I look in my planner. The homework load from junior year to senior year has significantly decreased for me. Of course college applications take a significant amount of time and preparation, as well as studying for the SAT and ACT, and let us not forget SAT subject tests. But, even with all of these extra things to do, I find that I now do what I longed to do a majority of sophomore and junior year: sleep.

With the homework load being lighter, I have time on my hands that at first I had no idea how to use. I still have homework and I still have cross country practice, just like my previous years in high school, but all of my activities and homework are done by 6:30 or 7pm. Luxurious does not even begin to describe how lovely it is to go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 7am without worry of not having my homework completed correctly or how well I will do on a test. I also feel a lot happier in class now. With more sleep, I can concentrate on the lessons in class. Stress has significantly decreased as well. I do not feel those nervous butterflies in my stomach 24/7 and I surely do not find myself running in the hallways from class to class to study for my tests. The concentration I have in class allows for a deeper understanding of material as it is being taught. Hours and hours of studying are not a necessity anymore to earn the grades that I want to earn.

While at first I thought this lack of stress and this attainment of sleep was just a result of senior year being “easier” than the previous years of highschool, I realized that it is far from that. School is a place to learn, and I am learning just as much as any other year of high school. The reason I am able to sleep more and stress less is because from freshman year until senior year I have grown as both a student and as a person. Teachers have taught me study skills, note taking skills, writing skills, and reading skills. I have learned to balance school work with extracurriculars, family time, and time with friends.

Senior year has allowed me to recognize and value all of the lessons that I have learned throughout my time in high school, aside from the standard “textbook” material required to be taught in classrooms. High school is about learning and growing. I have learned. I have grown. As the young adult and student that Piedmont High has helped shape, I am ready and eager to take my next steps in life.