Senior year is supposed to be enjoyable. It’s a time to celebrate finishing high school and make the most of the time left with friends. However, many students are already overwhelmed with college applications, classes, sports, and jobs. While school trips and events give seniors opportunities to relax and make memories, the additional costs can make participating difficult for some students.

Costs can run a student over $700 before a single prom photo is taken. With senioritis and just trying to get through your last year of high school, putting senior dues on top of that is one more thing to add to your ‘To Do List’. I still haven’t paid my senior dues because I’m saving money from my job for college, food, and other personal expenses. Going to work while also doing school and being a student athlete can become draining and sometimes it feels like I’m working for nothing because I don’t always have money left over after paying for all school expenses. I know that other students feel this way too and it’s hard.

“It’s really stressful and it feels like there’s no point in having a job because I don’t get to keep the money to spend on myself because it all goes back to either senior dues or to sports,” said Irene Park, a senior at Francis Lewis High School. “It’s very tiring and very stressful.”

Having to work while also doing school and trying to keep up your grades can get overwhelming, as well as trying to manage whatever other extracurricular activities like sports or clubs we have. You may not be able to participate in clubs or sports teams so you’re able to work more to pay for the fun activities all your friends are able to participate in. 

“It’s definitely a lot,” said senior and student athlete Sophia Saareste. “It’s a big undertaking because it’s multiple things to balance in terms of that aspect. However, financially, it’s another big deal, because the costs for senior dues are very steep as well as the cost for being a student athlete.”

Senior dues are a total of $155 now without a S.O card not including prom and any additional  activities like Yankees or Mets games, the Six Flags senior trip or the senior overnight trip. These additional activities, which are not included in senior dues, are especially appealing to seniors because they give us fun and exciting opportunities to make memories and spend time with our friends before we all move on to college, work, or other paths after graduation. Since life will become busier with school, jobs, and other responsibilities, senior year is one of our last chances to truly enjoy time with the people we’ve spent the past four years with.

“I would change the cost for most of the trips,” Saareste said. “We should be grateful that they’re given to us and we’re given an opportunity to go on them. But I feel as though that they’re so expensive for just a population of students that don’t really have the financial capability to afford all those things.” 

Your senior year is supposed to be enjoyable, celebrating finishing high school and making the best of the time you have left with all your friends since we are all so busy with our senior year with college applications and getting through classes, some students even having work. The school extending trips for us to have the opportunity to take a day off and enjoy it with our friends is a nice gesture but of course you have to pay a certain amount of money which can be hard for people.

“I have skipped the senior overnight,” Saareste said. “I did skip it because it was so expensive and although the value matched up pretty well, I just couldn’t justify spending $550 for two nights.”

There should be alternate ways to pay for senior dues and these additional fun activities so students don’t feel like they are missing out during their senior year just because they themselves can’t afford or their family can’t afford to pay extra money. Having to get a job just to pay for your senior year can be a struggle in itself. Just trying to get a job that can work with your high school schedule is hard, especially one that can pay well with good hours. 

“I have been trying to look for a job right now because there are many things that I still have to pay for” Saareste mentioned “Not just necessarily senior related, but also like sports banquet, for example.”

Some students have said that if the prices stood the same and never went up it would be more affordable compared to the price going from $115-$120 to $145-$155 which is a significant jump especially for low income families. Saareste also told us her calculated cost so far for all senior related activities she’s participated in is $300 which can definitely take a toll on some families. 

“If it’s going to be that expensive, I think there should be more included. I don’t think paying that large sum of money for such little activities is worth it and not as appealing to the seniors.” Park expressed. 

Prom is a big significant moment in many teens’ lives and some students feel like they won’t be able to go because of the cost of senior dues, then to pay for prom and get an outfit for prom, can all be very expensive. Last year the price of a prom ticket was $120, so in total with just the prom ticket and senior dues you are paying $275 dollars now add the senior six flags trip on top of that you are now paying $350. That is a lot of money that not everyone is able to spend or afford spending. 

“I actually did [get a job]” senior Samara Grant said. “I worked while I was doing cheerleading, which was very hard.”

If being a senior is really this expensive then there should be financial aid options for students who genuinely want to participate in the activities our school offers. They could pay it off slowly starting at the beginning of the year. 

“I would change how much it is,” Grant said. “Maybe lessen it a little bit, or maybe you could offer payment plans maybe for certain things.”

No student should ever feel left out or excluded just because they don’t have the same financial opportunities and aren’t able to participate in the same activities as their friends because of their financial situations. Nor should they ever have to feel the embarrassment one can feel when telling someone they can’t participate because they can’t afford it. 

“I would go if it was free,” said Park.