By: Lauren Montague, columnist

How do you recommend making the most of the last few weeks of school? 

From: Rebecca 

Hi, Rebecca! 

This question is one I’m sure most of us seniors are asking right now. I know I think about it a lot! 

What I’ve gathered is, it all has to do with action. If you want to do something with your friends, do it. It’s easy to sit and stress about the things you have to get done. It’s probably the easiest thing to do, which is why it’s all important to force yourself to get up and do it! (Or as Kim K. would say, “Get your f–king ass up and work”! Thanks Kim, we’ll just do that.) 

Use your weekends. I know personally I love to use my weekends for sleeping, relaxing and *sometimes* getting homework done. But with five weeks left of school, we should be using these times to adventure, go out and have fun with our friends! 

Quality time is so important. Yes, it’s fulfilling to give yourself time to rest, but there’s also something fulfilling about spending quality time with the people who are important to you. And that quality time can be in different forms! It could look like a sunset hike. It could look like conversation over dinner. It could look like doing some kind of art project together. Whatever it is, those moments are what keep us as humans alive and thriving. We’re made for relationship, which is why pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is so important to your health and wellbeing. 

But how do we prioritize quality time and school? My answer might not be the best thing to publish in a school newspaper, but these are my actual thoughts on the matter. If you feel comfortable with where you’re sitting grade-wise, then I say go ahead and make the most of the last few weeks! Ask yourself: what am I going to remember in the long run? Is it going to be this one assignment out of hundreds of assignments, or is it going to be the night I sang karaoke with my friends at a bar, or got up at 5 a.m. to see the sunrise?  

Yes, grades are important. I’ve always put so much pressure on myself about grades, as have (I’m sure) a lot of you. I’m trying to learn how to balance myself too. Only over the last year have I fully realized how much spending time with my friends, rather than sitting at my desk at home, is important to me. You have to figure out your own balance, as I’m figuring out mine. How much time do you want to devote to school, when this could be the last time of our lives when we are constantly surrounded by our peers?  

This time is special, and the next five weeks promise to be even more so. I recommend leaving your desk and spending time with the friends and peers that are about to move onto the next chapter, as are you. Celebrate the last four years! You deserve it! 

With much love, 

Your older sister 

DISCLAIMER This columnist is not a therapist, financial adviser, realtor, nutritionist, medical professional or clergyperson. She is your older sister. Take her advice (or not) in that context.

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