Canyon’s 2023-2024 school year started on August 16th and has taken lots of unexpected, yet exciting turns. As a senior, I’ve had some pretty high expectations for the year. Most of them have been met, while others have been quite the reality check that senior year is not quite the freeing and exhilarating time it’s made out to be.
This year was quickly kicked off with our anticipated Friday Night Lights. Students showed their spirit for our football team by dressing out for each Friday’s theme like Black Out, Western, and even Barbie, which went viral on TikTok. At the end of August, seniors got to participate in Senior Sunrise which started at 5:30am and allowed the senior class to hang out together while they watched the sun come up. Personally, I thought this activity was really fun as it gave me the opportunity to have a sleepover with my friends on a random Wednesday and get breakfast at Denny’s right before school started.
Warped Welcome was the next big event students had to look forward to at the beginning of September. This dance, however, was the start of a mean cold that spread like wildfire. I remember how a week after Warped, almost half of the students in all of my classes were out sick at various times. I thought I was in the clear for a while, but I too caught whatever was going around and struggled to fight it off. Right after everyone recovered from this bug, another dance, Homecoming, ushered it right back in. Homecoming’s surprising, yet unique theme of Indiana Jones, which celebrated Canyon’s 50th anniversary, gave students the opportunity to take pictures, pet reptiles, get balloon animals, and enjoy a table of sweets while they danced.
On the flip side of first semester’s fun was an incredible level of stress as seniors were swamped with college applications. While I wanted to go out and partake in more activities, I was stuck in front of my computer trying to complete all of my application requirements. Every day filled me with dread as I had to decide whether it would be a day I completed my homework but made little to no progress on my applications, or a day where homework took the back burner but I completed my essays. This period of life seemed to drag on, and by the time it was over, second semester was already right around the corner.
As a second semester senior, I feel like I have a lot more time on my hands and am able to manage myself better. So far, I’ve gone to multiple basketball games and am even part of the spring musical: Mamma Mia. In the coming months, students unfortunately have AP test season to prepare for, but also have Prom to look forward to, which I think marks the ultimate countdown to summer. With the school year 100 days in and more than halfway through, it’s safe to say that this year has been quite busy but also quite spirited. I’m hoping this liveliness will continue on as we finish the year off strong!