By: Sami Skelly and Elissa Manchester
There are a lot of things that get better with age: wine, cheese, my bank account. But becoming a senior does not seem to have the same effect. We started senior year feeling mature, coming off of a nice summer job with responsibilities, but we have quickly realized our freshman year tendencies are sneaking back up on us.
Senior year was like a dream to us as freshmen, the seniors had all the nice alcohol and spent classy evenings at the brewery, but no…not us. Find us at a raunchy house party putting a bottle of Barefoot wine to our face and challenging people to a dance-off. The only thing missing for at least one of us is carrying around the bottle of Fireball showing off that we were that freshman.
Streak? Okay! Spend a Thursday night at Station One? Twist my arm. Taco Tuesday followed by $2 White Claw Tuesday? Catch me if you can. But the only thing that has stayed constant is our bank account. Started broke and you know we are going to end with the bank account in the negatives (sorry, Mom).
We also have this sense of invincibility. As freshmen, there was no fear of the what if, you did what you wanted because you had nothing to lose. That same feeling is making its second appearance as seniors, probably for the worst.
The real difference between freshman and senior year is that as freshmen, it was acceptable. Now we are just old, washed up, wanna be young again, seniors. Freshman have that whole “freshman forgiveness” thing going for them, and we all know that isn’t only for a class grade…seniors are really out here acting like they have freshman forgiveness. Maybe we do, “senior forgiveness” has a nice ring to it, or maybe it’s just “I’ll be gone in a few months so screw it!” forgiveness. Either way, we deserve some flexibility on our actions too.
As a freshman, it was always so weird to see the seniors. They looked so old and so put together. How are we still sitting here in that same trashy top and ripped jeans fully knowing that they are from freshman year? Glow up? Who is she… never met her. Maybe I can fake an essay or put together a presentation in under a couple of minutes, but why can’t we find a new wardrobe that includes a pair of sensible shoes and nice khaki pants? Oh wait, it’s because we are those seniors. If you are not looking in the mirror and saying “wow, I look good,” go change…immediately. The point isn’t to impress that cute guy or cute girl over there, it is to impress yourself. Confidence is contagious and we need to empower and support each other to be our best selves.
So what’s the end game? There isn’t one. Spend every waking moment you have making memories, laughing and doing dumb things. It’s senior year so you might as well treat it like a freshman. Why do we have to be the responsible ones? We are all young, dumb and broke (thank you, Khalid), so might as well put on those jeans, throw on that cute top, grab your bottle of Barefoot and go out! Have yourself a night. The moments you don’t remember will be the moments you tell your grandkids about. How are we ever going to get to be old and wise if we ain’t ever young and crazy? (Thank you, Frankie Ballard).
*Both parties writing this article are of age and do not support underage drinking*
