The tree is away, New Year’s resolutions are set and the weather is miserably cold. It’s second semester and as a senior I’m now thinking of daily work and the college I’ll be leaving for in a few months.

As a final semester senior, I think we can all expect some sort of “senioritis” to kick in. We’ve been up with the chickens Monday through Friday from August to May each year for almost 12 years. A 7:20 start time has left me tired and craving mornings to sleep.

So yeah, I’m ready for college and I can’t wait to sleep, swim and chill with friends this summer, but unsurprisingly I feel really sad about leaving.

But was it always like this for seniors?

When I ask my mom or even other parents about what it felt like to leave for college, it seems different than what I hear from my friends today. We’re all excited to go out in the “real world” and learn to be adults, but we’re also nervous, and mostly sad to leave our friends and homes behind.

I remember a family friend telling me about her senior year. She grew up in a small Midwestern town and most of the graduates from her class went to one of the two state schools in Kansas. She was bound to end up with many of her classmates at either one.

In our graduating class we’re all going different ways and doing different things. I have friends that will be in Arizona, Colorado, Florida and some who will stay here in Edwardsville. We won’t all be under the same roof, much less in the same state, each day.

Now, I know that I cannot speak for everyone when it comes to going to college or even after- graduation plans. We’re all in different situations and have different goals. But after talking to quite a few seniors there seems to be a sense of dread.

I’m excited to go to college but I’m also nervous about the change. There are definitely days that I think going to EHS for a few more years wouldn’t be so bad. It’s easy, it’s routine and I’m really going to miss my bed and big shower.

So maybe senioritis isn’t what it used to be. Maybe senioritis for us is just a mix of readiness and dread, sprinkled with excitement for the future.