Don’t Forget to Live in the Moment

I know I’m not the first one to say it, but it’s true-junior year is hard.
This year ended up being much harder and more stressful than I imagined. I had a full schedule all year; I took on two AP courses and one dual-credit class, along with an honors class. I knew I was capable of it, but I would sometimes have up to eight or 10 hours of homework on the weekends where I just needed a break from it all. And, being a junior means studying for the ACT, which added even more pressure onto my plate.
On top of that, this is the year to start thinking about what I actually want to do with my life and what sort of college I want to go to. It’s the beginning of all the important decisions I have to make about my future.
The year became extremely stressful, crazy and overwhelming as it went on, and I did kind of expect that. But even before the school year started, I realized something: As much as I need to think about my future and keep my grades up, I don’t want to lose the time and experiences I have right now. After all, we are only in high school for four years, and I wanted to make sure I was enjoying the all the memories I had to make.
The people that surround me every day have helped me realize how important each day is. I want to be able to look back on all the good times I’ve had with them.
Band has played a huge part in helping me live in the present. Any day that there was a rehearsal, game, or competition, I would be extremely happy about it. All the focus would be on band, and the other worries that were going on in my world would fade away. I’d get to spend my entire day with my band family and listening to music, which is one of the best feelings in the world, regardless of how we placed.
I’ve learned to love and appreciate the little things more. Whether it was blasting music with my friends in the car, joking around with them during ANP, grabbing some lunch on the weekends or a half-day, or laughing until we cried, the small moments could turn any bad day into a good one and make a good day into a great one.
My year may have seemed a bit insane at times, but in the end, it really was worth it. I am going to keep working towards my future goals, but I’m not going to let that get in the way of living in the moment.