Chiquita on Senior Year

And the school year drags on. I’d say I’m running a fever of about 106.8. What illness am I suffering from you ask? Well, none other than the infamous Senioritis. Seriously, I go to class every day, and the whole time I sit, I count the minutes until the final bell rings. Several of my friends are in college, and I’m really the only one who was left behind to continue wandering the halls of our not-so-beloved high school. I humor the teachers, answering and asking a few questions here and there. I tolerate the other students, seemingly working well with others when really I’m only thinking about how the more I speed this along, the sooner it will be over and then I’m that many minutes closer to graduating and getting the hell out of here. I know of a country song by Trace Adkins called “You’re Gonna Miss This”. At one point in the song, he sings in his twangy voice

You’re gonna miss this, you’re gonna want this back, you’re gonna wish these
days hadn't gone by so fast. These are some good times, so take a good look
around.You may not know it now, but you’re gonna miss this.

When applied to my current high school situation, that’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard. I’ve done my time in high school. I was never very involved but never overly isolated either. I’m just not that into the whole “school activities” thing. I just really want to finish everything I need to get done and move on with my life. I’m sure when I’m a grown adult and have teenagers of my own, I’ll probably regret not taking more of an advantage of my high school years. But right now, I just want this to be over already. It’s been a long 13 years, and I’m really ready to just be out on my own. I’ve already started making plans as to where I’m going to be living after I graduate. If things work out as planned, I’ll be moving to Iowa City to live in a house with two of my good friends, Erin Van Kirk and Brooke Harlander, as well as a couple other girls. As far as schooling, I’m going to Kirkwood for two years before pursuing my dream of being an elementary school teacher. That being the case, I have some options as far as my first year as a college student. Hopefully, I’ll be able to take my general classes at the Iowa City campus. If not, I’ll have to take them at the Cedar Rapids location. Depending on whether or not I have a well-paying job in Iowa City I may have to move back to Cedar Rapids at the end of the summer to an apartment closer to the Cedar Rapids campus. If that ends up being the case, I already have another girl I could room with.
When I think about all of this, I just see these last several months at Kennedy as a waste of my time. I’m sitting here at this school, being told when I may eat my lunch, when its “appropriate” for me to go to the bathroom, and all the other rules, when in a few months I’m going to be supporting myself, making my own way in the world. I’m just too excited for it!