Becoming a Senior

As a student athlete most of your focus is on improving each year in the sport you play. If you are extremely committed and absolutely love the sport you play, time can go by very quickly. It might seem like freshman year was only a couple months ago and now you are preparing to go into your senior year. Where did the time go? Why are you so close to being an adult? Since when did you grow up? Senior year is supposed to be one of the best years of high school, but why is it so many people dread it?

Senior year is followed by many goodbyes. Goodbyes to your friends that you will no longer see when you go off to college. Goodbyes to your family if you decide to move out. Goodbyes to your pets. Goodbyes to your coaches and goodbyes to your teammates. Senior year is extremely sad when you think about all you will be leaving behind.

One of the hardest things for me will probably be counting down my lasts. I will be overcome with sadness when I realize I am playing in my last home game, or my last high school tournament. Saying goodbye to the people you have played with the last four years is going to be extremely difficult and heartbreaking, but you must look forward to the future.

After high school graduation, athletes will experience a new life at college and meet tons of new people. If you decide to continue playing the sport you love and have already put so much time into, you will get to experience collegiate sports. You will meet new teammates who will be just as wonderful and have even more competition to look forward to at games. Playing a sport in college will really allow you to adapt to the new school a lot easier. By already being a part of a group of people, you have made the first step at becoming comfortable. College really isn't going to be that bad.

When you look back on your senior year it will be filled with memories. You will miss it. You will miss high school, your teammates, and coaches, but that doesn't make the next step any less significant to your life. Remember, you are not the only one that is going to be the new student at college. Everyone around you has experienced a sudden change in their life. It is up to you to embrace it.