WOODBURY – Throughout the majority of their last year at high school, the seniors at Nonnewaug come across a lot of different stressors. From applying to colleges in the beginning of the year, to deciding where to spend the next four years of their lives, the tenure of a high school student can be an especially stressful one. Specifically, seniors deal with a lot during their final year of high school. Applying to college is the first taste of an adult life that seniors are starting to experience.
Some people are afraid they’ll miss high school, as during the past four years, they’ve grown into different people than they were when they first walked in the first day of freshman year. While others are excited and want a new set of people. Senior year is a bittersweet time in everyone’s lives. And the only way you can figure out how to handle the bitter parts of the year is to ask the people who are currently going through the transition: NHS alumni who are finishing their first year of college following graduation from NHS in June 2025.
Liam Sandor, shared his experiences on the stresses he went through, and whether or not he really thought the stress was necessary.
“Looking back, almost everything I was worried about faded a week into school,” Sandor said. “I realized that finding classes is a lot easier than I expected, people are super friendly, most classes don’t care if you’re late and if I needed something I didn’t have someone else would have it and lend it to me.”
Sandor stated that the stress was almost unnecessary but also drove him to get his situation organized for the year. However, not everyone has the same college experience. Students encounter different stressors based on where they go, choosing to stay close to home, stay at home, or live full time at college.
Joe Abaire states his experiences with going to college, but commuting to campus rather than living on at college.
“I didn’t have the stress of leaving, knowing that I would still live at home and still be around my friends,” Abaire stated. “But the stress about grades and managing time was still there. But, once I got a schedule down, I realized that as long as I stuck to that schedule I could get everything done efficiently. Sure, there were some things I needed to sacrifice, but eventually I found a good balance between having free time and prepping for classes’’.
Commuting and the social aspect of college is a big stress that high school students encounter. But students also stress about the academic differences that college provides compared to high school.
Xavi Martinez, a freshmen at Quinnipiac, reflects on the key differences he’s noticed between high school and college.
“The major differences I would say are the time management and social aspects,” Martinez said. “In high school, especially being in a smaller town, you know everyone and everything that’s going on. However in college, you don’t really know everything about everyone like in high school, and not being an athlete anymore was a hard transition because sports were one of the main aspects where I met people, but here not even your teachers know who you are. Which leads into time management.”
Martinez is one of many NHS alumni who notice the stark difference between the support NHS faculty provide versus what college professors do for their students.
“Your teachers, instead of being there to help you, are just there to teach you, they don’t care if you listen or not and your grade is the least of their concerns. So it’s on you to take it on yourself and study, which can be stressful but if you take accountability for your time, then you’ll be fine.”
College can be a major source of stress for all seniors, but where the stress comes from is different for all people. Micah Maberry, a senior at Nonnewaug high school, shared the different stressors he’s encountered prior to committing to Mississippi State this spring.
“At first there was a lot I was worried about, but as time went on, I started to accomplish and manage the different things that I was stressing about,” Said Maberry. “I started worrying less and being more confident in the fact that even though there might be a lot of different stressors I can manage it all and take the challenges as they come”.
Maberry showed how there were a lot of stressful things that senior year brings on. But a valuable lesson that is taught throughout the year is that there might be a lot of different things that people encounter in life. And no matter how stressful things may seem you can get through it if you keep going.
All in all, even though the transition is nerve-racking for most seniors. The stress is often unnecessary and it is best to go into the new school year with an open mind. Senior year is a big lesson on not only the responsibilities that come with a transition to college on the horizon, but also preparing students to navigate more freedom of becoming an adult. Additionally, this time period is a demonstration of how life changes as it goes on,learning to adapt and roll with those changes is a big part of life.
