The perks of being a Stanford senior

Jan. 31, 2014, 2:37 a.m.

Well ’14 (FOUR-TEEN), we finally made it to senior year. From recruiting stress to raucous nights at Nola’s, it’s already been a wild one — and we’re only a third of the way through. There are too many awesome things about being a senior to count, but The Weekender picked a few of our favorites. Here’s to being at the top of the heap!

Being 21. Most of us have hit the big 2-1 milestone by now (in fact, T-Swift’s “22” is becoming increasingly popular at birthday parties) — and it’s hard to even remember what it was like to ask upperclassmen to buy you beer or be scared of MIPs at a football tailgate.

Living on the Row. We suffered through years of crappy housing (junior year in Oak Creek, anyone?), but now we are reaping the reward: fun house events, new besties and lunch outside on sunny days.

Knowing everyone. Has Stanford gotten smaller, or have we just finally begun to recognize most of the faces of Fourteen? These days, it seems we can never enter a classroom or make it through the line at Starbucks without running into a friend.

 The intimidation factor. Remember when you were a freshman and the seniors looked so polished and on top of it? We know now that it was all an illusion… but it’s kind of fun to keep up the charade and watch the frosh cower in awe.

 Giving underclassmen advice. On the flip side though, there’s nothing more satisfying than being able to pass on insights we’ve gleaned in the last three years… Just doing our part to ensure the Class of 2017 doesn’t make the same mistakes we did!

Academic savvy. By now, most of us are pretty familiar with the way classes work here on the Farm — we know which professor in our department gives the hardest finals, which course fulfills three GERs and which 9 a.m. lectures you never really have to go to.

Making bucket lists. What is it about senior year that makes us suddenly enthusiastic about doing all the things on campus we never cared about doing before? It’s just so fun! The clock is ticking… better hurry up and start checking off those boxes.

Knowing which parties to go to (Wine and Cheese)…and which to skip (Exotic Erotic).

Appreciating Stanford. If there’s one thing this year has taught us, it’s that life after college sounds like a scary, scary place. We’ll have to become real people soon enough, but let’s make the most of our last two quarters in this paradise and not take any of it for granted.

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