Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 28, 1993 TAG: 9301270122
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
COPING WITH SENIORITIS
THE question is: "So, what college are you going to?"Every high school senior has heard it, at least once. It's an automatic conversation piece; a one-liner that tumbles out with no regard for the poor senior who's probably spent the day listening to friends recite all the schools they're applying to.
Once you've bored the teen with the first question, hurl the obvious follow-up: "And what do you want to major in?"
Quite frankly, Melissa Thomas is fed up with the questions.
"It gets tedious," says the Patrick Henry High senior. Suffice it to say, she's only applied to Virginia schools. OK, so her first choice is Mary Washington College and her second is James Madison University. There, she said it.
Senior year - the best of times, the worst of times - is when teen-agers are expected to make adult decisions, while adults keep asking the same old questions.
It's not a good time for procrastinators. The pressure is on to get the college applications completed in time to make the schools' deadlines. From listing references to writing essays, applications require massive amounts of information. Melissa has found herself sitting up until 1 a.m. trying to get everything done.
At Salem High School, Michelle Harrison changes her mind about where she wants to go every week. "Probably Ferrum [College]," she says after a pause.
On being a senior: "To me it's the same, it's OK," she says. "It's fun thinking about graduating and everything."
But, one thing's for sure, the Scholastic Aptitude Tests are a bummer.
Michelle, who plans to take the SATs this month, has taken them twice before and has one ACT under her belt. (The American College Testing program is required for some Southern and Midwestern colleges.) She moans that she is spending most of her senior year wondering if she'll make the grade.
"They're horrible," Melissa agrees. "I thought I was smart until I took them."
There's no doubt, senior year is scary. But it's not so much the classwork. It's everything else. The endless applications, the countless tests and all the goodbyes.
"In a way, you don't wanna get out," William Fleming senior Tim Beatty says. "I'm afraid, 'cause the world's rough. There's no protection. . . ."
Tim, who plans to attend Winston-Salem State University or Hampden-Sydney College, is trying to cherish as much of high school as he can by taking pictures of friends and making new ones. "This is it. You have to enjoy it."
Leaving really hit home for Tim after the last high school football game of the season.
There was no big send off. No speeches or celebration. The lower classmen were returning for another year. The last game wasn't a big deal to them, but it was for the seniors who couldn't hold back their tears. Tim admits, "we were crying." The years of camaraderie were over for them. They'd never play there again.
"But you've gotta move on," he says. "That's the hardest thing being a senior."
Michelle says she felt the same way.
"I didn't think it would hit me like this," she says. She played for the girls basketball team at Salem. The team had its end of season banquet, and Michelle shed a few tears of her own.
"It's hard to believe I'm gonna be leaving for the real world," says Michelle, who is considering a career in elementary education. "It's kind of scary."
Melissa remembers when she was a freshman dreaming of heading to a college in Texas or some other far-off state. As the years went by, she started looking at schools closer and closer to Virginia. When it came down to the crunch, she just couldn't go that far away from home.
Her family, however, almost seem pleased to be getting rid of her, she says. Her 6-year-old sister already has made claim to her room. One of the perks, though, is that her parents are being more lenient with her curfew and aren't keeping as close an eye on her, she adds.
Melissa didn't feel so bad after a speaker at school explained that most parents start letting go of their college-bound teen-ager.
Being a senior also means being mature and responsible. The teachers expect it, Tim says, "because we're entering adulthood. It's a pain sometimes, but it teaches you qualities of being an adult."