New year, same us, right? Same friends, same weekend festivities, and the same late nights of homework. I find comfort in this routine because it won’t be long until we are packing up and heading out for the next chapter in our lives.

So as we prepare for life beyond Bowie High School, I’d like to reflect on what excites us most about being here as seniors.

Let’s start with going back to that first week. It seems like so long ago now, but seeing all your ‘19 queens’ in their matching shirts was kind of cute; you have to admit it.

Following the hectic back to school events, we enjoyed our time as the list of “lasts” grew. The last season of Friday Night Lights, final fall concerts, and homecoming dance.

I am constantly having moments in which I have to take a pause and think, “Wow. This is it.” Big changes are on the horizon, and time isn’t slowing down to allow us to take our sweet time.

It seems like in the blink of an eye we have already reached February. Now we are taking senior photos as we wait on those heavily anticipated college acceptances.

We used to long for the future to hurry up, but now that it’s here, I for one have been doing my best to take each day as it comes and enjoy the perks and the bittersweetness that comes with senior year.

I think there is a unique sense of community that comes with being a senior. It doesn’t matter what club or background you come from because you realize that it all comes to an end so soon. The traditions that come with being a senior make the year a little bit more bearable for others.

So, as Valentine’s Day blends into Spring Break, which leads to prom, which is shortly followed by graduation – try to take a pause and appreciate what a remarkable year we have had, and the community our class of 2019 has become.