I was under the impression that senior year was going to be easy.

Oh, how wrong I was. Throughout my high school years, my teachers have been insisting that they have been preparing us for college.

I used to think that they were just attempting to justify hours of homework, but now I think that I may finally get their point. It would be nearly impossible for me to have a larger work load in college than the mountainous amount of work that has been piled upon me so far this year.

If there is one thing that I have mastered throughout the course of the past four years, it is time management.

Not only do I have a school agenda, I also have a daily planner, a work schedule, multiple “To Do” lists and a Momma that reminds me of anything that I may have forgotten.

I have also been experiencing first-hand the joyful process of applying to college, and the time consuming, nail-biting search for scholarships to help me pay for college. Not to mention the mind-numbing test of academic knowledge and time management that is the ACT.

I have always made above–average grades, but there have been a couple of times this year when I have felt just plain dumb. I think my brain is tired.

Last week the seniors received all of the information regarding ordering senior supplies: cap and gown, diploma, graduation announcements, thank you notes, class t-shirts, tassels, etc. Looking at that packet made all of this a little more real to me.

I am a senior, and according to my day planner, in seven months and 27 days I will be wearing a cap and gown.

Deep down I know that as I walk across that stage, all of this work and exhaustion will have been worth it.

Bethany Adams is a senior at Pelham High School.