Anxious, eager, and wary are three of the many, many emotions that cross my mind as my senior year is rapidly approaching.
I seem to forget, at times, that I am not an eleven-year-old sixth grader, beaming with joy after finding out that I would be on a “two-week” quarantine from school and learning remotely, unaware of the horrors of COVID-19.
It’s not until moments when I’m on the road driving, completing work for my college applications, or making plans with my fellow seniors that I am reminded that I’m growing up. I could attempt to explain my feelings as I enter the beginning of the end of my high school career, but I will be brief and say that I feel everything. Not a single emotion is spared from my bustling mind. It ranges from joy as a result of the anticipation of privileges, growth, and opportunities, to dread of goodbyes, lasts, and tears.
As easy as it is to look at what this year may have in store for me and the rest of the class of 2026 and be filled with anxiety, I think what helps ground me is the emphasis on staying present. My senior year can never be replicated, and the experience is for me to accept with open arms, including both the good and bad, and I will do so, starting from the first day of classes to the day I walk across the stage at graduation.
Lincey Bazile is a student at Bunnell High School, entering her senior year. She loves staying active and is on the varsity volleyball team and track and field team, which she is captain of at BHS. She enjoys reading and writing (especially poetry) and owns her blog. She is passionate about mental health advocacy, community involvement, and working with children, and represented Stratford as the 2025 Barnum Festival Princess.
