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The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

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Senioritis and the countdown to summer

Eighty-eight degree weather, while comfortable for short-wearers everywhere, brings me pain because of its shocking resemblance to summer.
When can I finally let go of all of my school responsibilities? How soon are the lazy days of sitting by the pool, drinking ice-cold limeade? "Summer is only seven weeks away," parents, teachers, and other patient people say.

Seven weeks! The agony of the annual countdown is here. As a senior, the pain is even more acute. My full three months of summer will be almost completely free from school–no summer reading, no biology chapters, and no anxiety about the return to high school. The summer also represents my first few months as a legal adult, since I turn 18 three days after graduation. The freedom and independence I hope to enjoy are simply too distant, I have limited patience in waiting for them.

In the meantime, my school-related motivation has sunk to an all-time low. My desire to attend class is minimal, and my desire to do homework is somehow even less. I have always prided myself on my ability to, say, stay up until two in the morning finishing a project, or studying for a test, but lately it’s a trial to do even the most basic of homework. My sleep has become more valuable; I cannot even drag myself out of bed in the morning, resulting in my habitual tardiness to AP English. Unfortunately, this time is the most stressful of the year. The week before AP testing is one of extreme cramming as I attempt to remember all of the information I half-learned throughout the year.

After AP testing, I look forward to having much more "chill" time. The only issue I have is with the post-AP test projects that teachers enjoy assigning. Any work assigned after the tests is completely bogus, because it is evident that it is simply assigned to keep students busy. While I enjoy the more relaxed classroom atmosphere, I dread doing busywork. I think that to avoid this problem, AP classes should simply be cancelled after AP testing. Problem solved. Or, if that is too extreme, classes should be turned into lively discussions of current events or philosophy. They would then be relaxed, but also intellectual.

In the meantime, I see a great need for a senior prank. Last year, the senior class decided to toilet paper the entire school, turning the campus into a distorted wedding scene. Enjoyable as it was, the fact that they asked the administration for permission completely destroyed the spirit of rebellion that a senior prank is supposed to represent. My personal favorite prank (that I’ve heard of) is MIT students’ reassembling of a car atop a dome. We need an MIT-style prank, something clever and difficult to disassemble quickly. By writing this, I do not intend to incite violence, merely inspire the creation of a prank that would yield laughter.

There has to be something on campus to entertain and inspire students in these last few weeks of school. The pool parties and barbecues are too far off in the future. As I work in the hot weather I can only daydream of the lazy days to come.

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