I was laying on a banana yellow raft, floating in the middle of Duck Lake at a cottage in Muskegon that my family had rented for a week. It was a bright, sunny afternoon. The water was calm. There was almost no breeze. It was peaceful. I wasn’t really worried about where the current was taking me. I was merely dozing and needed a chance to think.

Everyone says that senior year is one of the best years of your life. As an incoming senior, I feel like that’s a lot of pressure to put on me; to make this one of the best years of my life. How am I supposed to make this year that fantastic? Should I have a plan? Should I make a plan of everything I want to accomplish this year? Should I not make a plan and just see what happens?

The internet is full of articles by graduates: senior year bucket lists, things they wish they’d known as a senior, a guide to your last year of high school, and many others. Do I read them to prepare myself, or do I stay in the dark? Do I let my experience as a senior become wholly my own, or do I let other people’s stories give me an idea of what to expect?

I thought a lot about this while floating on that raft. And at the time a plan seemed like the best option. But now I’m wondering if I should just see what happens. Because my life has always revolved around plans. I’m always updating my calendar or making a schedule of some sort. I’m almost constantly making a checklist to get things done or planning every single second of the day. I’ve become so focused on the future that I sometimes wonder if I’m missing anything. If I’m missing the chance to do something amazing or make even better memories with the people I love. I’ve relied so much on my lists that I never really focus on the now.

With that being said, I think my best option for this year is not to worry about those lists. Not to rely so much on those schedules and calendars and all those plans. My best option is to just see what happens and go with it. To expect the unexpected. To make the days count, and not count them down.

I believe that if I start this year by living in the now, then senior year will be pretty spectacular.