Clarke Central High School junior Maya Cornish poses in front of an Athens Community Career Academy logo backdrop on Sept. 20, 2017. Instead of physical changes, Cornish believes that her senior self will be a completely different person from her freshman self. Photo courtesy of Yana Cornish
ODYSSEY Media Group News Editor Maya Cornish shares her thoughts of becoming a senior and the anxiety that comes with it.
It’s 13 years of schooling from kindergarten to senior year: a 13-year adventure full of joy, anxiety, anger and love.
As of August 3, I will be a senior in high school. By the end of May 2021, I will be walking across the stage in the University of Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum.
I am quite amazed that I have made it this far, much less another whole year. Whenever I’ve wondered about what I wanted to do when I grow older, I’ve been told that I still have time to decide.
But now, I feel like that time to decide is slipping out of my hands. What if I make the wrong choice, and end up on a path of failure?
I’m the “mom” in my friend group, being the voice of reason and always carefully weighing the pros and cons. However, there is also always a voice of doubt in my mind wondering if I made the right decision.
Out of the three years I have attended Clarke Central High School so far, I learned the most about myself in junior year. I made new friends in my classes, bonding over our lack of understanding of class material, but I also pushed my abilities too far which resulted in negative consequences.
No matter what decision I’ve made, whether it was right or wrong, I’ve evolved to take it in stride and to keep achieving my goals. I’ve had my family and friends to help lift me up when I fall.
No matter how much I worry, I know the best I can do is take it one day at a time. My future is as free as a bird, and no matter what storms I encounter, I can make it through.
