This is it. The senior reflection. The long-anticipated (and long-dreaded) rite of passage for every Harby editor. Unfortunately, I’m no exception. 

Here goes.

“Reflect on something meaningful from your high school experience in 300-400 words.” 

This impossible prompt, given to me nearly a month ago, has nagged and tormented me to no end. For three long weeks, I’ve engaged in nonstop introspection in an attempt to find the perfect topic. I’ve explored the cavernous depths of my mind for an answer—a deep, meaningful takeaway from the past four years that reminisces, astonishes and inspires.

Now, as I sit here, a week and a half after the deadline (sorry Coppens), I’m still utterly stumped. What do I write about? What lessons have I learned? What brilliant words of wisdom can I impart?

I have no idea. 

Whenever I get writer’s block, which is clearly VERY often, I like to take everything step by step (shoutout AWC). So, that’s what I’ll do now—I’ll approach this reflection like it’s just another essay and bring you through each phase of my typical process.

If APUSH has taught me anything (besides the fact that I can stay up until 3 a.m. studying for a quiz and still get a solid 70), it’s that upon receiving a new prompt, I should re-read it three times before anything else. Done, done and done. Easy enough.

Now, it’s time to brainstorm. Let’s see. 

I could write about growing up in the blink of an eye while still clinging onto the blissful remnants of my childhood. A great opportunity for bittersweet reminiscence, but no. Seems like more writer’s block waiting to happen. Maybe something about how I learned to resist social pressures and instead spend time on the people and activities I actually enjoy? Definitely my biggest takeaway from high school, but too cliché. Discovering my passion for journalism? Basic. COVID’s impact on my life? Overdone.

This is hopeless. Maybe I should just make a list of superficial advice crammed with stale buzzwords: “get involved, make new friends,” nonsense like that. Or, I could come up with a super clever way to express my frustration with this vague prompt while incorporating elements of a typical senior reflection AND meeting the word count. Yes. That’s the one.

Final step: actually write the reflection. Oh wait, I just did that. 

I guess this is it then. Peace out, ’22. Thanks for everything.