Ah, yes. I have finally reached the pinnacle of the high school experience. It only took five long, long years.

From what I hear from the Class of ‘07 and the Fox network, senior year is nothing but nonstop fun, start to finish. And while there is still a very large amount of time left in the year (I think Joe Leigh has an exact countdown), it’s looking like that is probably not the case. It’s not that this year is so terrible per se, but it just seems like I’ve been through it all before.

I’m still on the first floor (albeit at a different locker with a cool new In-N-Out Burger bumper sticker), I’m still doing cross country, and most importantly I’m still tired. Sure, the swimmers have it worse when it comes to getting up early, but getting up at 5:45 three days a week isn’t exactly a walk in the park for a guy who got used to waking up at around 9:30 and getting 12 hours of sleep every day during the summer.

But that’s not all. My hair is back to as long as it was at the start of last year. I just looked at my iPod and noticed that I’m listening to a song I really loved last year (“Problems” by The Sex Pistols, if you must know). Come to think of it, I don’t even feel any different. I had this bizarre symptom where I would cough in a truly disgusting manner after running races, and I’ve still got it. I still can’t regularly remember what I had for breakfast.

However, I guess that really isn’t fair. I have changed in some ways. I’m taller, for one. I’m faster now than I was at this time last year or at any other point in my brief running career. I’ve learned that Nirvana isn’t the most annoying band on the planet. I actually enjoy rap now.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that maybe I’m not getting much wiser as I get older. But maybe that isn’t such a bad thing. I’ve got plenty of time to get wiser (what do you think they invented college and grad school for?), and at the very least I can try to have a good time this year even without much knowledge.

But then again, as Socrates might assert (see Mr. Vaughn, I have been paying attention in class), the only wisdom we can attain is that of our own ignorance. So maybe I’m not so far behind after all.