Two years ago, as the infamous junior year quickly approached me, and school suddenly became a bit different.

With each worksheet, quiz or final, there came an incessant little voice in my head, reminding me of why I was sitting there taking that vocabulary quiz, what was looming just ahead: college.

Every point began to feel precious.

Looking back on nearly four years of countless assignments, I have to admit that this high pressure mindframe is what gave me that extra push I needed to get through challenging classes as well as do my very best.

Yet now that my high school years are coming to a close, the restlessness of being a second semester senior truly kicking in, it does seem rather silly that a 10 point vocab quiz was viewed with such value.

Since my current grades don’t feel, well, super, super, important, gone is this need to obsess about points and analyze the Home Access Center.

Along with this new and relaxed mindframe, my classes suddenly feel strange. Their role has been fulfilled, as they have created a well rounded student and gotten me into college. Yet excluding the subjects I’ve always enjoyed and found valuable, they aren’t ones I feel I’m truly benefiting from.

As the pressure along with my determination slowly dwindles, I realize how unfortunate it is that in really any high school environment, as there’s not a lot of choice in choosing classes, hard work always seems to correlate with stress rather than pure interest.

Yet I’m excited to next year finally be granted the freedom to choose courses that will provide me with the knowledge I crave, making working hard a lot easier, and the pressure, not nearly as intense.