College. Finals. Senioritis. These are typically the most common things people imagine when they think about being a senior in high school. Now that college applications are coming to a close, many seniors are now focusing their thoughts on ideas for Senior Experience.

Senior Experience has given graduating students the chance to intern at any place of their choosing to help gain real life experiences and decide what they might want to major in, or work as, after graduation. It has been known to help thousands of kids across Arlington, and is a much anticipated end to senior year.

The application process is simple. Answer some basic questions in some to-the-point forms, find a mentor to provide an internship, fill out another form and a business reference, get it in before March 12 to the Leadership Office, maintain good grades and that is it! The only difficult part is choosing where to do the experience.

For those who already know their life’s path, it should be no problem choosing where to intern. However, for those who have absolutely no idea as to what they want to do with their lives, here are a few things that can help:

Talk to Health Teacher and Senior Experience coordinator Stephanie Meadows. She can talk about hobbies and what type of things one can work with, such as kids, animals, computers or art. She will try to find something that aligns with different interests. If there are absolutely no interests, then there are always her binders of past senior experience opportunities, dating back to when the program first started and ranging from teaching to cooking to politics.

Try what is popular. Each year, large numbers of kids go back to their elementary or middle schools to work with teachers. Many also go to work with the government, on Capitol Hill, or with a specific senator or congressman. Several flock to the courthouse to work with the sheriff and the commonwealth attorney and have the opportunity to sit in on court cases. Multiple students work for the Smithsonian in museums and get a behind-the-scenes look at priceless artifacts that the public has not even seen yet. Some even go to the career center to immerse themselves in their classes and develop those skills. Numerous have gone to work at local shops or restaurants.

Do something fun that might not have anything to do with an intended major but piques an interest. Do something crazy and memorable that will truly be a worthwhile experience. Go work for NASA. Go to the zoo. Go work at a camp. Train dogs. Intern at a fire department or a nature center. Help out at a tattoo parlour. Do something for the Peace Corps. Make your own business. Help cities destroyed by natural disasters. The possibilities are endless; just find somewhere to start.

As Meadows explained, “Pick something that you’re interested in, or something that you’ll have fun doing, because it is what you make of it.”

Look around the area. We live in one of the best locations in the country for an opportunity like this. We have the whole of the nation’s capital at our doorstep, and endless possibilities just around the corner throughout Virginia and Maryland.

Look outside of the area. You can travel anywhere you want in the whole world. There are no limits, no boundaries, no experiences too small or too big. Travel to California, England, Argentina, South Africa, Australia or all the way to Delaware if desired. Realistically and safely excluding dangerous or inaccessible countries, anywhere is a possibility.

“[Students have] gone around the world. I’ve had a girl in Dubai. I’ve had kids in Japan, Italy, Mexico, across the country  and right here in the DMV. If they have the connections and the means to do it, they can go anywhere. It’s all wide open,” said Meadows.

Realize that this is real. It is not all fun. It is an internship with work, set hours, responsibility, deadlines, no paycheck and a set requirement of working hours. This is what school has basically been preparing students for their whole 18 years: life. This is the final exam. It has only one question, and only two answers. Is this something you can really see yourself doing for the rest of your life? Yes, or no?

Realize that another option is to not want to do Senior Experience at all and just stay at school for those last three weeks. Realize that the world may still seem a little scary, and it may not be time to venture out just yet. And that is okay. Those last three weeks may seem just fine. Take the exams with 20% of the senior class present and continue that senior education until the last possible minute.

That is safe, but that is not an experience. It is encouraged to get out of a comfort zone and do something worthwhile. Take the wake-up-call and realize that seniors are adults, even if they do not feel like one or particularly want to be one. Go out and find that adventure, then come back and make everyone jealous with those new skills and invaluable memories during that mandatory final senior seminar.