I’m a seventeen year old girl with stress lines. I stay up until 1 playing minesweeper and browsing reddit. I do every bit of school work at school the day it’s due. I skip a class every once in a while to sleep. I bike around after school. I go out every weekend. I go out most weekdays. I get 5 hours of sleep a night. I spend most time with my friends. I have a final next period and have accepted my failure. And somehow I manage a 3.67 GPA. Who am I? I’m an end-of-the-year-senior. While I’ve been at Ames High, I’ve been involved with chorusbandmadrigalqueendramaclubjazzbandmusicalmarchingbandsoloensemblenationalhonorssocietyspectrumkeyclubshephspeechclubpepbandcookiebakingclubplayshomecomingcourtmarchingbandnationalthespiansocietypresident and others. It’s taken up a ton of time but for the most part it’s been worth it. My advice is to pick a few things to be super active in. I chose way too many. It worked for me, but if you want any free time or any sleep, I suggest picking only a few. You can be great if you just put your mind to it. But don’t stress out. Everyone will say that in their column, but I never took their advice. take a deep breath. Screw homework every once in a while and just go for a bike ride or do something for yourself. Get a good night’s sleep. Stretch. Take an art class, but don’t get behind on your assignments or the stress builds even higher for that. I’m really excited to leave Ames and explore someplace new. If you’re going to Iowa State, good for you, it’s a great college, but I’m ready to leave. I’ve spent the last 15 years in this town and I’m glad to not be going here for the next 4 years. That being said, Ames is the greatest town in the world. I want my kids to grow up in Ames or somewhere just like it. I’ll be glad to come home for holidays and visits. I’ll miss this place. I’ll miss all the teachers and classes and friends so much. I’ll miss being a kid. Don’t try to grow up too fast. It sucks. I’ll miss so much about this place, but I won’t miss Zeynab. :3 High school can realllllly suck, but you just have to enjoy it while you can. Soon you’ll escape the petty awful world of high school drama. Just make it fun. Laugh at it. The only way I got by was making fun of all the bullshit that goes on in the social world of school. People are ridiculous, so choose your buddies wisely. If you’re an attention wh…seeker… then place yourself with others. You’ll get more attention that way. But do us a favor and leave the people alone who don’t care about you. I’ve realize that our graduating class is the most divided class that’s passed through. We all have our own thing and we’re all perfectly fine not communicating with people of “other groups.” As we’ve grown, we’ve branched out a little bit, but not enough to make a noticeable difference. I don’t even know most of the people in my grade. I think they’d all say the same. I’ve made some enemies with my attitude, but honestly it’s ok because I’m just fine being me. I hope you all become just fine being yourselves. Love you, Ames High.