As the school year closes, everyone knows that emotions run high. We all have some things in common: finals, summer, and checking another year of high school off our list. However, these emotions may differ depending on who you are and which year you are completing.

If you are a freshman, you have successfully finished your first year of high school, hopefully finding that the rumors of getting shoved into lockers, sitting alone at lunch, and falling victim to bathroom swirlies were exaggerated.

You have probably realized by now that high school is not at all what you thought it would be like when you were eleven. Your middle school friends change, your interests begin to differ, and the expectations of you are heightened.

Halfway through high school, sophomores have survived harder classes and may have started to figure out where they belong. You have a better idea of what activities or clubs you want to devote time to, and you have begun to adjust to more demanding classes.

This was arguably a harder transition than last year, as this was the first year that teachers “expected you to know better.” Gone were the days of endless retakes and accepted excuses for late work.

Congratulations, juniors. It is well known that junior year is the toughest year of high school, and just surviving it is something to take pride in. You are probably scheduling senior pictures, filling out applications, and going on college visits.

On top of the anxiety and stress of your junior year, everyone expects you to know “What are you going to do with the rest of your life?” With so many decisions still unmade, you are feeling the impending pressures of adulthood hit you like a brick wall.

But, seniors, you felt that, too. And now, your numbered days are filled with mixed emotions.

Your head is probably spinning, as you are filling out scholarship applications, planning graduation parties, fighting senioritis–and what the heck is FAFSA?

Although the plethora of overwhelming emotions has you begging for graduation day, the end is bittersweet. You are stuck between the finality of something old and the looking-forward to something new. You are ready to move on, but at times are hesitant to leave.

No matter where you are in the chaos we call high school, you are sure to be feeling a wide array of emotions, from happiness to anxiety to frustration. Whatever you are feeling, take comfort in knowing that there are other students who have felt like you, and have survived a similar stage of life.