To the incoming freshmen: Come August, you'll be entering your first year of high school while I will be entering my first year of college. For others of you reading this, you may be in your sophomore, junior, or even senior year. Everything you are feeling, I have already felt, & everything you're going to experience, I have already experienced. I wish when I was in the shoes you are in now, I had someone to tell me the real truth about high school and what I could really expect (along with some much needed advice). So I will be that person for you.

1. These next four years are not to be taken lightly.

When they say "before you know it, you'll be a senior walking across the stage to take your diploma", they mean it. Don't blink because you just might miss it all.

2. The friends you start this journey with may not be the friends you finish it with.

If you're extremely lucky, then this may not be true for you. I started and finished high school with a different circle of friends. Throughout this time, your circle of friends is likely to change, and that's inevitable. At my high school, who you hung out with usually had to do with sports you played, classes you had, and ultimately just what interests/goals you had. If you are as lucky as I was, you'll start & finish high school with that one friend that never left your side. Whatever you do, do NOT take that person for granted. (Thank you Katie)

3. Don't lose sight of who you are.

If you hear it once, you'll hear it a thousand times. "Don't leave your friends or change who you are for some boy/girl." We all seem to promise ourselves that "we won't be the one to do that" or "that's not who I am", but during this crazy thing called high school, that may be who you become. I never thought I would go head over heels crazy for some boy, and end up changing who I was for a boy. In the end, that boy just chose another girl over me. Stay true to yourself. Don't let your first crush or any crush change that. If someone can’t accept you for who you are, then they don’t need to be in your life anyways.

4. Your heart will get broken at least once. It's not the end of the world.

This goes back to the last point I made. Not every person gets their heart broken (those people are quite lucky I'd say). But that boy/girl you met on the first day, the second, or heck, even your senior year might not be who you think them to be. Not just in high school, but in life, things aren't always going to go the way you want them to. That one may not be the one. The crazy thing is that maybe it's supposed to be that way. After many heartbreaks and disappointments, I finally was able to understand that this is just God's plan for me. He brings people into our life to teach us lessons, and the knowledge we gain from those disappointments is knowledge to help guide us for the rest of our lives.

5. School work is important. Do it.

Let's get away from the sappy typical love stuff and discuss something much more important (in my opinion anyways). You'll hear it so much from your parents, teachers, counselors, coaches, and maybe even a few friends that "schoolwork should come first". Many will brush that off and proceed to put their schoolwork on the back burner. You should not be that person. Do your work. Play later.

6. Don't be that person.

I can promise you, that if you keep your school work first, your four years here will be much smoother. Although, slacking off will happen because it's completely normal, try and keep it to a minimum. I know it's hard to miss that TV show you love, or put your phone down to study for a test instead, but that one test you brushed off may determine whether you pass or fail. It could be the set number of points you really needed to keep your B in that one math class you've been struggling with. Plus, good grades means more (much needed) scholarship money for college!

7. Getting good grades doesn't make you a nerd. Getting bad grades doesn't make you stupid.

It's all about what you put in. I can't tell you how many times I was called a "nerd" or "teacher's pet" in high school because I strived to get the highest grades I could. I'm one of those kids who wasn't just naturally a genius. I had to work extra hard to get really good grades, and keep them there. I tried (but didn't always) to do every bit of my homework every night, and study tirelessly for all of my tests so I could achieve this. But as I have stated before, slacking off does occur. What would really grind my gears was when I'd get a test back with a 92A written on it and immediately be called an "overachiever". I cannot stress this enough. PREPARING YOURSELF, DOING YOUR BEST, AND SUCCEEDING DOES NOT MAKE YOU AN OVERACHIEVER.

While on the other hand, preparing yourself, doing your best, and failing doesn't make you stupid. Not everyone gets things the first time. But hey, some do. Life is full of success and failures. It's just a matter of how you react to those successes and failures in your life.

8. School events come in an abundance but run out far too quickly.

The Friday night lights, playoff games, clubs, concerts, plays/musicals, talent shows, etc., come so often, but will run out before you know it. Don't question it; go to those things. Go to as many as you can.

You never know. Those could be the places where you meet your closest friends, meet a special someone, experience the best night of your life, or discover something new. Those are the little things you'll miss when your days in high school are over.

9. Get involved.

I was involved in multiple things while in high school (softball, National Honor Society, robotics, French club, Fellowship Christian Assemblies, drama club), so I was always pretty busy. I saw too many people who never got involved with anything. Clubs and sports is where you'll make lifelong friends, and get to be apart of something you enjoy while doing it.

Don't be that person that goes through high school and does absolutely nothing. I can assure you that your experience will be much better when you get involved. It gives you a chance to experience the unthinkable, and you never know, you may just discover something you’re really passionate about.

Your friends may not be there forever, but your passions will. They are more important than you think!

10. Don't forget to say thank you.

Though we may get angry at them for giving us lots of work or frustrated because they won't bump up our grades, our teachers are really trying to do what's best for us. They work really hard to give us the best instruction possible.

Our teachers don't just teach us math, English, etc., but they teach us about life. They teach us how to work hard for the things we want because in the real world, things don’t just get handed to you. If you want it, you’ve got to work for it.

Be sure to always thank them for spending many hours making lessons for you, and teaching you. Being a teacher isn't an easy job, and all teachers need to be appreciated for doing the job they do. Once you get to college, you'll realize just how easy they were on you!

11. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat.

Your life can become successful with enough hard work, but you should also give time back to yourself. Manage the stress, and don’t forget to breathe. Sometimes things may seem like they’re falling apart, but there’s always light at the end of every dark tunnel. Take the good with the bad, and when you feel like everything is coming down on top of you, just stop, breathe in, breathe out, and repeat.

12. Take it all in.

I’ve stressed this so much throughout this, but I really cannot stress it enough. Please, please, PLEASE enjoy this. You only get high school once. Here, you’ll make friends and memories. You’ll lose some of those friends, but you’ll never forget those memories.

You’ll experience some of the most fun times in your life as well as some of the hardest, but in the end, every up and down is vital in building who you’ll become. Don’t try and rush this, because before you know it, you’ll be at your last prom, playing your last game, giving your last bow, walking across the stage to receive your diploma, and then turning your tassel to the left.

In a quick flash, it’ll all be over, and you’ll be wishing you could do it all over again. So don’t forget to enjoy it, savor it, and never forget it.

So, there you have it. High school just a small portion of your life, but during that time, you’ll discover yourself. Remember to enjoy yourself, because high school only comes once, and it’ll be some of the best years of your life.