For all you seniors out there, I know how you feel right now. An overwhelming sense of excitement for what lies ahead, but an incredible amount of stress for now. The early Friday nights to prepare for the ACT, the endless rewrites of college essays and even keeping up your social life, it seems impossible and never ending. Here’s four things every one of you already knows, or will learn very quickly.

1.First semester is awful.

You may not realize it yet, but when you look back on first semester, you will understand how truly torturous it was. Whether it was taking practice ACT’s every Saturday morning, or having your SAT tutor twice a week. Even staying in on that Friday night so you could finish your applications before the due date. Trying to get into college is strenuous to say the least. It’s so overwhelming to have to balance everything at once. Second semester, when you are at a darty (PSA: a darty is just a party during the day) on Sunday instead of finishing your AP calc homework, you’ll realize how lucky you are to be a second semester senior.

2. You will be stressed out until the minute you decide where to go.

I was the girl they tell you not to be. The one reloading my Gmail 100000 times a day to see if I got in, logging on to every portal to see if my decision was out, and thinking of every possible scenario in my head. Looking back, not only was this a huge waste of time and unproductive, but incredibly stupid. You will not be able to control when you find out from schools, and what that letter will say. So yes, you will be stressed out every second until you get to post your Facebook status, but don’t freak out over it. You’ll be a lot happier and sleep a lot more, I promise.

3. You will miss high school.

“I am so ready to graduate and go to college,” is what many of you may be thinking right now. In a year from now, when you have only slept three hours the night before, have a midterm tomorrow and a research paper due later in the week, you will miss the days of staying up until 1 AM to study for your APUSH exam. You will miss the nights you and your friends stay in and just hangout, and meeting in the lunch room every morning, or even as simple as going home after school every day. Enjoy it now, it all changes at college.

4. It is so worth the wait.

I know you’re dying to get to college. Anytime you’ve had a glimpse of college life, while doing visits, is replaying in your mind and you legitimately can’t wait. From the moment you get to school, you will realize how incredible of an experience it is. Enjoy high school while it lasts, but get ready for college, it’s even better than you think. Believe it or not college is not the end, it’s only the beginning.