Finding Balance Your Senior Year

It’s senior year and you’re trying to balance classes, extracurricular activities, your social life, college applications, and not to mention dealing with the fact that the next few years of your life are currently an unknown! That can be a lot to juggle when it seems to hit you all at once. Finding ways to balance your time and your mind will help you get through this stressful season and before you know it you’re where you’re meant to be! Here are some tips to do just that…

Create a Calendar

If you’re applying to colleges you have a lot of dates swimming around in your head – from application deadlines to financial aid submissions to visit dates, it can get overwhelming! Keeping track of your busy senior year schedule can be tough so write it down. Get an agenda or big calendar that you can easily see throughout your week. It will help you stay on track of all those college dates as well as see when you’ve got some free time to hang out with friends! Share this calendar with a friend or guardian so they can keep you accountable and on top of your school work and college apps.

Do Not Procrastinate

Procrastination. Everyone’s worst enemy but closest friend. We’ve all waited until the last minute to do something and sometimes it works out great, but college applications are not one of those things. A lot is considered in that essay you have to write or those forms you need to fill out so you need to take your time. The earlier you get it done, the less stressful those deadlines seem. Your teachers and counselors will thank you for asking for those recommendations earlier as they are pretty busy this time of year as well. Looking at that calendar again, schedule out little bits of time throughout your week to work on your college to do list.

Use Your Resources

There are so many people whose job it is to help you through this process! Your high school counselors are your biggest asset in helping you in your college search and application process. The admissions counselors at the colleges you are interested in are more than happy to answer any questions you have; we know this is a whole new world for you so never be afraid to ask questions. We want you to reach out! You are not alone in this process so don’t let the weight of everything stress you out – lean on those who are around you.

Take Time for Self Care

We are in what seems like the year of self care, it’s all over social media and is promoted as things that can sometimes seem unattainable. Self care is doing something for you that reduces your stress and brings you joy. Maybe that’s taking a break from school work to take a walk, read a book, go see a movie with your friends- there’s no right or wrong way to do self care! You might be wondering how self care will help you in your senior year as you apply for college. When you are taking care of yourself you are more productive and have a clearer head while diving into that long to do list so take the time to schedule out a little me time on the calendar. Get sleep, eat better, exercise – these little things go a long way!

Relax and Trust the Process

Know that you will end up where you’re meant to be. If you’re getting your work done, working hard on those apps, and using your support system everything will fall into place. High school is a time to have fun and explore all of your opportunities for the future. Don’t let the uncertainty of what’s next keep you from having fun during this time! Keep up with your school work and apps but don’t overwork yourself trying to cram everything in during your last year.  If you are feeling a little too anxious about college or the next step in your life reach out to a counselor. Talking to someone can always help and know that you are not alone in that sentiment.

Most of you reading this blog are already doing some if not all of these tips but if nothing else this serves as a reminder to take care of yourself during this time so you can create a little more balance in your final year of high school.

By Carly Bailey, Admissions Counselor