Clara Stern
Thur. April 30th, 2026

With APs around the corner, all that’s been on my mind is studying. Study, study, study.

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It’s like everything else fades into the background—conversations, hobbies, even sleep sometimes. We don’t realize how much of a toll it takes on students until we’re in it again. The pressure builds quietly, then all at once. There’s this expectation to get a 5, to prove something, even when it feels just out of reach. And the more you think about it, the more impossible it can seem.

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But after AP season is over, school will slowly be coming to an end.

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It’s strange—time feels like it’s dragging right now. Every day blends into the next, filled with notes, flashcards, and countdowns. But once you get caught up in cramming for exams, you forget that the end of the year is right around the corner. Without realizing it, you’re already at the edge of something finishing.

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For me, that means goodbye to sophomore year. And goodbye to all my friends that are off to college.

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I may not have been that close to every senior, yet they mean more to me than I expected. I’m losing the best center-back, my defense twin, who’s been there since freshman year, someone I could always rely on without even saying much. I’m also saying goodbye to the funniest, most chaotic senior who somehow made every school event unforgettable. And even the people I never spoke to, the ones I’d pass in the hallway almost every day, feel like they’re a part of something I’m about to lose.

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It’s not just people leaving. It’s routines, familiar faces, small moments you never thought twice about.

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And while I am sad they are leaving, I know this is the start of something bigger for them. It’s the beginning of a new era: one where they’ll step into the unknown, meet new people, and figure out who they are outside of everything they’ve known so far. There’s something exciting about that, even if it comes with change.

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And when you think about it… that’ll be me in two years.

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Two years. It sounds far away when you say it out loud. Like there’s still so much time. But watching them leave makes it feel a lot closer. Too close, almost. Close enough that it stops feeling hypothetical and starts feeling real.

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Because when you really think about it, two years isn’t that much time.

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So maybe, in the middle of all the studying and the stress, there’s something else worth paying attention to. The last practices. The random conversations. The people you see every day without thinking twice. The version of your life that feels normal right now…but won’t last forever.

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Because one day, you’ll look up from whatever is consuming your mind in that moment, and realize you’re at the end of something again.

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And this time, it’ll be your turn to leave.