High school is almost over. You're almost out of your hometown. You are about to graduate.
Take a second, and let that sink in.
Some people can't stop thinking about that and are so excited to get away from everything. Others are going to be living at home, working or commuting. Just remember that either option is OK. My biggest piece of advice is to just take a look around. Stop to smell the roses. Appreciate every opportunity you have while you have it.
I promise you, one day you'll look back and realize high school was the greatest time of your life. I know, not everyone is going to agree with me, but there have to be at least a few things that make you smile. High school is the time where you find out just who you are and who you want to be. You really start to discover who you are going to be when you grow up. Like what you are going to be interested in and what you honestly want to do for the rest of your life. It's kind of scary thinking that after this, you're not going to have that much time to explore and figure things out. Those four years are meant to be spent determining your future. That doesn't mean you can't have fun doing it.
1. Spend as much time as possible with your friends.
Don't let it get in the way of your school work, but make sure it's an opportunity you get. I hate to break your heart, but your friends will slowly disappear. One minute, you're a short drive from them and then the next you are hundreds of miles away from all of them, separated by different directions. Spend your last moments of high school holding them close to your side. Be adventurous with them. Take some risks. You will regret it if you don't. Sneak out of your house in the middle of the night, go to a nearby park, and sit and swing for hours. Lean back and look up at the stars as you talk for hours about anything and everything. Just enjoy yourself and the little moments you have left with them.
2. Appreciate every weird and quirky tradition you may have.
They may be as tame as having the same class schedule to stick to. You may even have some weird tradition that you do before games and performances. Giving out paper plate awards, singing "All Star", and doing the pregame ass-slap will forever be some of my favorite traditions from high school. They were our own little traditions to help us de-stress and get ready to perform.
3. Tell your teachers thank you.
Every single one of them. They were the ones that helped you get to the point where you are. College is so much harder, and your professors aren't always there to have your back. Teachers in high school though, they're ready to push your limits and to be your best friend when things may not be going your way. They've given you the education you've needed to get to where you're going. Sure, they are getting paid to teach you, but they put a lot more of an emotional connection to it.
4. Everything will be okay.
You may find yourself going down a path you don't necessarily enjoy, or even at a school that isn't the right fit for you. That's okay, you have time to change it. You will make plenty of new friends in college. You will roam halls once more that will be unfamiliar until you make some of the best memories in them. You will eat equally as crappy college food. You will struggle being in a new area. Things will seem strange. They will seem almost unreal sometimes. Just prep yourself to have some of the best next few years in the future.
For now, look around those hallways and smile. You never know when you're going to be in them next. It may be tomorrow, in a month, or in a few years. Treat them just as well as they treated you.