Senior Moments Column: Experiencing the rollercoaster of life at Senior Night

Volleyball has always been my favorite sport. Although many people enjoy watching and participating in sports, I have only ever truly enjoyed volleyball. There’s something about the teamwork involved that has always stuck with me.

This year, I play on the varsity and junior varsity (JV) teams, but I claim the title of co-captain on JV. In October, we had one of our last home games, which was our senior night. All day, I was stressed about how it was going to go. Would I play a lot? Would I somehow be forgotten while being announced, my Murphy’s Law following me once again? The questions raced as the day passed faster than I could process.

I walked with my friend to the meal our Booster Club had decided to make for the student body after school. We ate cheeseburgers, got matching temporary volleyball tattoos and chatted as we walked around our playground area. Then, I went home to change and get my hair done by my mom.

Before I knew it, I was at the gym in a group picture with my classmates by the banner our team would run through. After warmups fin- ished, two boys held the banner while the music started. I could feel my heart beating in time as we ran out from the locker room. I was told by Coach I would get to start, along with the two other senior volleyball players, and I was ecstatic. We were last in our line-up announcements, and we ran out to the cheers of the crowd, which only fueled my enthusiasm.

We played and won three sets of five. The adrenaline pumped through my veins, as I, Shandy Elfrink, along with my fellow volleyball seniors, clustered around to get our roses. My mom came over and hugged me as she handed me the beautiful floral arrangement she had purchased. The cross country and volleyball senior members proceeded to line up alphabetically to be recognized by our principal as our parents came out to meet us. We were each given a plaque, and our coaches spoke about each of us. Finally, our teammates came out and handed us the presents they had gotten for us.

My best friend on the team was in tears, and I told her not to look at me, because I still had too many pictures to take and couldn’t look like I was crying in them, managing to make her laugh. I took my time hugging each girl that helped with my gifts and handed out more flowers to my family and friends. Then, my friends and I headed off for some celebratory McDonald’s once the need for pictures finally slowed.

There, we laughed and discussed how well the night had gone. Everything felt so perfect, but all I could think about was how this didn’t feel real. School had seemingly just started, yet here we were, nearly in the middle of October. It was basically the end of volleyball season and first quarter. Time was flying faster than I could comprehend. I knew all I could possibly do was try to make the moment last longer, so I enjoyed every second of the night before we inevitably had to head home.

After all, the night had to end at some point, and I know this year will soon follow suit. Life is a rollercoaster of ups and downs, and all we can do is hang on tight and hope for the best.

Shandy Elfrink is a senior at Leopold High School. She has attended Leopold High School since kindergarten and loves reading, writing, listening to music, and hanging out with friends and family.