Senioritis. Everyone’s heard of it and by this time in the school year, a majority of every senior class catches it. Senioritis affects everything from your grades to your ability to get out of bed in the mornings, to trying to memorize the dozens of dates almost every teacher throws at you. To help make this last month of high school a little easier, keep reading for information on important dates that every senior should know.

5. Senior Trip: This is one event you may be tempted to skip – but don’t. This year, the senior sponsors have arranged two trips: one to Graves Mountain Lodge and the second to Baltimore, Maryland. The trip to Baltimore will take place on Friday, May 9, with the buses departing at approximately 6 am, yes you read that right, 6 in the morning. Once in Baltimore, you’ll board a boat and go on a scenic lunch cruise around the harbor, followed by time to explore the sights at the Harbor like the Hard Rock Cafe or the Baltimore Aquarium. Later, attend a Baltimore Orioles baseball game before returning home around 3 am.

Looking for a less elaborate trip to celebrate the end of a long four-year career as a high school student? The Graves Mountain Lodge picnic is for you. On Thursday, May 15, seniors will leave school at 9:15 am and return back about 3:15 pm. At Graves Mountain Lodge, students can enjoy an afternoon full of fresh air, games, and cook-out style food. Seniors are encouraged to bring every type of outdoor game, from football to frisbee, to add to an already enjoyable afternoon.

4. Exams: The always dreaded exam week. There is a small change in the exam schedule this year. Due to the extreme amount of “snow” days, seniors will take their exams a week before the rest of the school. “Senior Exam Week” is not really a week, but a two day period that all six exams are being squeezed into. On May 19, you will take the exams for 1st, 3rd, and 5th periods and on May 20, you will finish up with the exams for 2nd, 4th, and 6th periods. For many seniors, however, the exam week began long before the official start in the form of AP exams. In an attempt to get that valuable college credit, students start taking extensive, exhausting exams almost two weeks before the school exams. Some of the most popular exams are AP Government which is on May 13, the AP Literature and Composition exam on May 8, and the AP Psychology exam on May 5. Don’t see the date for your exam above? Check out the list here: https://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/ap/about/dates.

3. Senior Awards Ceremony: Before all the glitz and glam of graduation, seniors are honored in another way: the annual awards ceremony. Think underclassmen awards, but bigger and more personal, where seniors are honored with everything from medals in their classes to scholarships they so arduously applied for throughout the school year. The event starts at 6 pm on Thursday, May 22 and has been known to drag on for several hours, often ending around 10 pm. While the ceremony is not mandatory, it’s best to go. Grin and bear it and cross your fingers. Maybe you’ll get that scholarship that you have been hoping for all school year… and you’ll definitely get cake.

2. Graduation Practice: Did you really think you could show up at graduation without doing one last extraneous school activity? Well, you thought wrong. Graduation practice is on Friday, May 22 at 9:30 am at the Phil Browning Stadium. While this is mandatory for the seniors, afterwards, seniors are free to leave for the rest of the day and go about their pre-graduation preparations. At practice, the senior sponsors will show you your seat, inform you about dress code, run through the entrance a few times, and (hopefully) help you get cleared of all fines that may prevent you from walking. (Remember: you must pay for that missing math textbook. It’s not a myth. They really won’t let you graduate until you do.)

1. Graduation: Saving the best for last remains true in this case as we talk about graduation. Does graduation even really need an explanation? It’s that moment all seniors live for. Everyone in their cap and gowns, sitting in the middle of Phil Browning Stadium, waiting for their names to be called so they can triumphantly walk across that stage. When is your moment? Saturday, May 24, at 10 am. Seniors should be here no later than 8:15 am and family and friends are advised to start arriving around the same time as seniors. Handicap parking will be directly outside the stadium, the senior class will park in the bus loop, and everyone else will be ushered in Pleasant Grove and taken to the Stadium by bus. Beware, however, because Pleasant Grove is holding two soccer tournaments that day. “If you live 15 minutes down the road, it may take an hour to get there,” said resource officer Tim Shiflett. As far as the actual ceremony, “Bring water bottles,” Shiflett warned, “Dehydration is always a large concern.”

Senior year can seem as if an unending amount of dates, information, and money being thrown in every direction. This list is made to hold everything in one place, at least the dates part of it all. Remember seniors, when it all feels like too much, hang on, you’re almost there. It will all be worth it.