If you’ve never looked at the page on Wikipedia titled “twelfth grade,” you’re in for a hoot. It starts out: “Many students consider the twelfth grade a year to relax and prepare for transition out of their old lives into college or the workplace. The class work for some is generally not as difficult as in the eleventh grade because the eleventh grade is generally the year where the important examinations take place such as SAT and ACT.”

Here’s what Wikipedia doesn’t tell you. It’s all a lie. While second semester lends itself to a reduced schedule, I will warn all incoming seniors now that it only gets harder.

Why?

First: If you transfer out of AP Literature and Composition after the first night of thick reading, you will forever regret it. Mrs. Wedge has been cranking out consistent 5s ever since the school opened, giving all seniors the opportunity to avoid introductory English classes their freshman year. If you accept the fact that senior year should be a walk in the park just yet, you’ll end up spending more on your education later. And while you will slave over practice AP multiple choice tests and dread reading and annotating one more page of Shakespeare notes, trust me, it’s worth it and you’ll survive.

Second: Everyone in your grade who wants to go to a prestigious college will be competing with you. Know someone else who wants to major in chemistry at Yale? Do all your friends have better standardized test scores than you? Will one of them only continue to add on community service hours, scholarship applications and school projects in order to “one-up” everyone else? Tough luck, because these people are all around the nation and want your spot just as much as you do. If your parents can pay for a new building at the school of your dreams, you don’t have to worry about this problem, but just be careful with your choices next year and make sure your best friend didn’t check Northwestern on their Common App either.

Third: Calculus BC is not math. In fact, it’s a little devil woven into senior year as a disguise. It will test your focus, determination and all other math capabilities and make you feel like a fool when you cannot remember what cosine of zero equals (it’s one, by the way). Take this class only if you think you can survive series and unknown solutions, and always be ready to raise your hand for help.

Fourth: The amount of pressure you get from schools, parents, teachers and relatives to make the “right decision” next year will be through the roof. Every single time you Skype your grandparents, they’ll ask how much financial aid you’ve gotten now. The College Board will not send you reminders about deadlines, leaving you toast if you don’t submit your IDOC on time to the schools. Plus, all the additional costs of being a senior, from prom dresses to graduation gowns, senior photos to college visits, will all make you feel even more guilty to pick the right place. If you have time, start planning now because once the year starts, you’re in for a wild ride and won’t be able to get off until Spring Break (if you’re lucky).

Last: People get out-of-touch. Everyone’s ready to fly away from the nest, and that might include leaving you out of their new “college” life. The thing I regret least about my senior year is how much time I spent with people who love me back: my parents. Next year, I won’t have that rock to fall back on, nonetheless my mom’s delicious cooking. While you may bicker with your parents every night about curfews and be embarrassed by them at public events, they’ll forever be there for you, even when your high school friends unfollow you on Twitter.

So while twelfth grade isn’t a piece of cake, it’s worth it in every way. I’ve read 35 books just in second semester alone, tried two new sports that have motivated me to run until I die and ended up maintaining my GPA. And amidst that, I’ve discovered who I’m going to be next year as I make the transition to college.

Just remember: “Life is hard for everyone.That’s why there’s such a nice reward at the end of it.”

The reward?

Freedom. Accomplishment. And Firebird pride.