When you hear summer break, you think of parties at the pool, trips to the beach, and relaxation with friends. The summer between junior and senior year also means writing your college essay, reading your AP Literature book, filling out Common App applications, and doing other tasks to prepare for college. 

While Elena Pasquale, senior, went on a few fun vacations and hung out with friends, most of her summer was filled with searching for colleges, filling out Common App, and working to save money for college. 

Pasquale said, “The big thing was college preparation, I drafted my personal statement essay, looked at all the colleges I wanted to apply to, then started brainstorming ideas of college specific essays.” 

Pasquale is also a part of Leesville’s Marching band and has a senior leadership role this year. She had to spend two weeks of her summer at band camp where the marching band goes to learn their music and marching patterns, and she has to do some extra work due to her senior leadership position.

These extra responsibilities for Pasquale caused stress and interrupted her ability to relax.

Natalia Cesky, senior, also had a stressful summer but was a bit different from Pasquale’s as she is planning to play soccer in college. 

Cesky said, “I was constantly sending emails between college coaches trying to see where I stand with them and see how I would fit with the school both academically and athletically…I committed to York College.”

When asked if this summer has been as relaxing as past summers, both Pasquale and Cesky gave a resounding no as their response. 

Gaby Franco, junior, shows how other summers aren’t as stressful. 

“I hung out with friends a lot, I went to the beach, and went on family trips,” said Franco.

Franco, being a junior, said she had no stress related to college or school. Unlike seniors, who find their last high school summer full of stress and pressure. 

Common App is a site where you can apply for most colleges. Every year students spend hours filling out mundane questions along with prompts that could make or break their college career. Not only is filling out Common App incredibly boring, but it is also very stressful. 

Pasquale said, “If I didn’t have a consultant I would be really overwhelmed because there is so much going on… It’s nice to have everything I need to apply in one place though.”

Cesky decided Common App was too daunting, and she was too busy this summer trying to commit to a college, so she hasn’t started it yet. Luckily, there is still plenty of time for seniors to apply to college. 

While some people don’t just want to be lazy during summer and like being busy, senior summer is definitely more stressful than past summers.