The End of the Beginning

Having officially enrolled in , there is nothing I would like better than to lounge about in this beautiful spring weather, lazily skimming stones on Lake Lillinonah with my friends. I can't do that quite yet, however, because school is not yet finished — no matter what my brain tells me.

In the coming two weeks, I must complete six dreaded AP tests, spending my time not relaxing under the sun but toiling away for the better part of three hours. I guess it just never registered that the time would come when I'd have to take the tests when I signed up for the courses last year.

I can't complain, however, because no matter how well or poorly I do, come next Tuesday, it will all be over. At least, that's the idea. Because my AP classes are all geared towards passing the AP exam, I would think that there wouldn't be much to do after the exam is over. I'm sure there will be a few extra assignments to keep me out of trouble (and to assuage the underclassmen who are probably dying for more work), but hopefully I will be hiking some of the Appalachian Trail for and thus escape.

Thus, like with any , I just need to muster the strength for one final push to propel me toward the end of my high school career. I've gotten this far, right? I've applied myself all four years, I've applied for college and I've applied for scholarships. Maybe life up until recently has felt like one huge application for adulthood — but now, I want to appreciate the last month-and-a-half of high school by taking a step back and letting myself be proud of myself and my classmates on our own terms, without acceptances or rejections to tell us otherwise. We deserve to be proud of ourselves.

So as much as I'd like to write more, and go outside to the the beckoning calls of Facebook posts saying “FRISBEE,” I just need a few more days of studying to gather the knowledge I've acquired since September and apply it on those three-hour tests. As daunting as it sounds, in perspective it's not so bad: a culmination of senior year and then I'm done. After that it's going to be one summer to remember (if I can get to all the concerts I want) and then the next step is attending college. I don't want to think about what comes after that. I like to think of this just as the end of the beginning — after all, I'm just getting started.

But for now, fun is just around the corner. I really hope I can still recognize it.