The pros and cons of being a ‘super senior’

It’s everyone’s dream, right? To never actually graduate from college. Somehow I don’t think that many students think this way, especially if their parents stop paying for their tuition. You know when you make a budget for your spending to determine wants from needs? Well, once the parental units stop pouring in the big bucks to pay for your education it goes from a want to a need pretty quickly, unless you have thousands of dollars at your disposal.

Here are all of the pros and cons of being a ‘super senior.’

Me next year

‘Super-senior’ and parents don’t mix

Luckily in my case my parents saw the end of the tunnel and knew I could make it by telling me not to give up. I was obviously concerned that I was becoming more of a burden financially, so I’m using that as a motivation to get through my last year. Some other students might not be so lucky and be cut off after four years, regardless of graduation. Parents need to realize they aren’t the only ones who are concerned with money, especially with how expensive tuition is.

Friends start to disappear

This isn’t always a bad thing – in my case my friends are just finding “adult” jobs and said jobs aren’t always in Iowa. With the help of technology, since I’m a millennial, they are never too far away. Besides, if it’s a friend that means enough to you in life you’ll find a way to see them somehow, someway, at least once a year.

Class schedule

You’d think that being a super senior and registering before most students for classes would mean that you could avoid those hellish 8am’s right? Not for me, I have an 8am every day, which I’ve been told is good because it’ll help me “adapt to working real job hours”. That’s all fine and dandy, but I’m still in college and don’t want to wake up before the sun, especially in the tundra that is Iowa winter.

8 a.m.’s as a super senior..

Senioritis 2.0

Everyone knows how much of an influence the classic senioritis can have on decision making. Choosing whether or not to procrastinate, to attend class, maybe even to try in some cases. I was ready to be done after this past school year, and it’ll only get worse this year. I’m hoping that I make the right choices: my GPA and future depends on it.

Another chance for success or failure

Another year of classes means there’s either another chance to be successful and finish out strong, or flop and dread trying to find a job after college. For some it’s like getting a second chance at upping that GPA. Maybe you went a little too hard freshman year (I mean who didn’t) and your GPA started out in the gutter. This is the chance to make or break it, and though it doesn’t look good on a resume to be at a college for over four years, if you raise your GPA then it’s worth it.

Questioning your major choice

This is never a good thing to do and if you’re even contemplating this when you’ve made it this far I’d recommend taking a semester off to think it over. These days a college degree isn’t required for some jobs, so you could always try and get some job experience in another field of choice to really test out your thinking. Have fun telling your parents, or maybe even your own bank account, you want to chance majors (most likely again).

These are all negative things about being a super senior but there are some good things as well.

Making new friends

Whether they’re in your major or not you’ll end up making new friends. They probably won’t replace your old friends, but having someone is better than no one, especially when you need a motivational push.

Fine tune your skills

All those skills you list on your LinkedIn profile can be fine-tuned over the course of one more year. It’s never a bad thing to know what you’re doing when you start a job, especially if you’re trying to impress the boss.

Parties

You are already legal age so getting alcohol isn’t a problem. It might be the last year you can “go hard” because you won’t be in college much longer. If you have decent excess money you can host some kick ass parties too, then you’ll be one of those kids everyone likes.

To my fellow super-seniors, good luck and don’t give up! The end is in sight, but enjoy this year, because college years are unlike anything else you’ll ever experience.