In 2013, the Harlem Shake was alive and awful, Justin Bieber was hated by 9/10 Americans, Miley Cyrus did a few things involving a foam finger at the VMAs, and Facebook was cool.

Also in this magical year, the Class of 2017 stepped onto the Granite Bay campus, beginning their high school experience and an eternal game of “move when a senior is walking at you.”

Today, no one has done the Harlem Shake since 2013, only 6/10 Americans currently hate Justin Bieber, no one really knows what Miley Cyrus is doing anymore, and only Mr.Grubaugh and your mom use Facebook.

Needless to say, a lot has changed.

The Class of 2017 is now halfway through it’s senior year, and most of us are dramatically different.

For instance, when I was a freshman I had braces, eyebrows that we’re not going to talk about, and I thought high school was the holy grail of life.

Now I have significantly less metal in my mouth, better eyebrows, and I’m counting down the days until I will leave for college.

This may make me sound pessimistic about my senior year – which I’m really not, because You Only Senior Year Once – but it’s true.

Myself included, the seniors have done their time in high school. We’ve pulled the all-nighters, dealt with the drama, had awkward slow dances at formals, and honestly speaking, we’re mostly over it at this point.

As we close out our seventh semester, our desire to be in high school is fading fast.

Some of us have matured, and some haven’t as much, but hypothetically we’re entering adulthood.

Socially, we’re much more independent than we used to be, and can procrastinate all by ourselves!

Academically, we’re trying to offset the effects of inevitably chronic senioritis while balancing the stress of college applications, missing school to visit colleges, a full schedule, passion projects, MathXL, and sleep deprivation.

It’s quite the life.

And to top it all off, for the next 6 months we’ll be waiting anxiously to see if our futures come to life as we have imagined them.

With college and post-high school plans approaching so quickly, most of us are excited to enter the next chapter of our lives. There is increasingly less interest in the familiarity of the bubble.

Basically, WE ARE DYING FOR SOME CHANGE.

Of course there are things about high school we’re going to miss – our friends, family, home-cooked meals – but we’re finally reaching the point when we’re supposed to start our own lives.

High school has been quite the ride. But most of us are ready to get off the kiddie train and get on the rollercoaster of adult life.

We’re going to enjoy the last few dips and turns, and savor every moment, but where we are physically locked in, we are mentally running to get in line for what’s next.