Deadlines. For high school seniors, that word isn’t just a due date. It’s a time bomb counting down to a future we’re told we must design right now. With every passing month, the highly prestigious scholarships, early decision slots and high honor titles seem to disappear, replaced by an overwhelming sense of dread. The current system in place is designed to force students into making permanent, life-altering decisions under crushing and unnecessary pressure.
For many of us, this process starts with standardized testing. I remember just last February, a terrified junior, sitting for my first ACT. Everything about that experience felt designed to maximize anxiety: the silent gymnasium amplifying every nervous cough, the dense paragraphs on topics I barely knew, and that relentless time limit. Even though we’re told ACT scores are only part of our success, they undeniably narrow our opportunities. When those scores come back, the confusion begins. Which schools accept this? Should I retake it? For me, the only answer was a painful yes. My second ACT was worse than the first. I had driven two hours to the testing facility in the middle of a hot summer, utterly exhausted and unprepared. After that, I decided to stop. I told myself that the score I had was “good enough,” and I had to transfer my focus to the next step.
Once you accept your test scores, you’re forced to condense your entire future into a span of a couple of months. We scramble for letters of recommendation, transcripts, FAFSA forms and the dreaded college essay: a meager 650 words meant to capture your entire life’s trajectory and vouch for why you deserve a spot at their institution. Our society asks us to explain the why of our existence before we’ve even fully figured out the what. This intense cycle consumes the entire first semester of senior year.
The cycle reaches its peak when decisions come in. Disappointment stings when a reach school rejects you; relief washes over you when a target school accepts. But even the acceptance letters come with another crushing reality check: money. Prestigious schools are often financially out of reach, and even with scholarships, the numbers often don’t add up. We are left choosing not the best educational fit, but the most affordable one.
Our entire senior year is currently defined by this high stakes planning. Yes, we enjoy the football games and prom, but those moments are often overshadowed by the looming idea of our future. As we turn eighteen, it’s time we normalize the idea that we are not required to have our entire lives mapped out.
The greatest choice we can make this year is to step back. Take your senior year for yourself. Normalize doing what you truly want, whether that means taking a gap year to work and save, exploring a vocational path, or heading straight to a four-year university. Don’t let the pressure define you — define your own pace.
