For those in the Class of 2016 , the time is here: we are now second semester seniors! After somehow surviving the hell that is junior year, standardized tests and college applications, we are #SSS. Senioritis is here and life is good. We have all seen how SSS is portrayed by our predecessors: it is a semester full of parties, ditching classes, not doing homework and just an overall good time. I thought SSS would be exactly like that the second I got to school on the first day of second semester. However, I have been very underwhelmed with the SSS life. Let me paint a picture for all my underclassmen Paly Pals on what SSS is really like.

First off, one would think that SSS means all your teachers somehow decide that they won’t give you homework or tests anymore and you just spend a semester playing wiffle ball. Sadly, that is not the case. Contrary to popular belief, teachers still teach second semester (shocker, I know), and that means a slew of tests and homework. For some reason the College Board does not acknowledge SSS. So because Advanced Placement (AP) tests take place in May, AP classes go on as per usual. However, if one wants to wholeheartedly embrace senioritis, just don’t do work in any of your AP classes. Think of it this way: it is harder to try and get a one on a given AP test than it is to get a five, so, in reality, getting a one actually makes you a true overachiever.

One would also think SSS means parties every night, just because #SSS. As my junior friends would say, one would expect it to be L17.  Yet again, that is not the case; in fact, I would say it is dim. This is the first time in over a year and a half where I do not have a task to do after I finish my homework, like study for the ACT or do college applications. So not having anything to do after finishing my homework is a weird idea to me. Much like I do whenever I am in a pickle, I turned to Netflix to solve this problem. Somehow, I got drawn into “The Great British Baking Show” and I am obsessed. I will stay up until 1 a.m. watching my favorite British people participate in a baking competition judged by a super sweet old British lady who I want to read me a British story before I go to sleep every night. Thanks to my new obsession, you could say SSS is pretty L17 so far.

The summer between high school and college is often dedicated to a senior trip; one last hoorah with all of your high school friends before you all leave each other for your respective colleges. We have all seen the photos of senior trips from those older than us: touring Europe, hiking through Hawaii, going to Cabo and other adventurous things like that. A senior trip sounds like the trip of a lifetime and it is very easy to get super excited about it, until you realize how much it’s going to cost. With the money you spend on a senior trip that lasts a week, you can’t even imagine how many cups of Philz coffee you could get or the four shirts (or five, if you’re lucky) you could buy from Free People. For those of you who are like me and do not have the money to go anywhere cool for a senior trip, I hear San Jose is supposed to be really nice during summer.

Hate to break it to you all, but essentially what I have learned from my month of being a second semester senior is that life does not get way more exciting just because you are one semester away from finally graduating high school. Bye Paly Pals!