Dear graduating class of 2016,
Congratulations, you did it. After 13 years, you're finally done. Welcome to the alumni club. As you take your last few finals and go through graduation practice, as you take your last few steps through the language hallway, through the cafeteria where you shared millions of moments of laughter, and past your homeroom where you met that girl freshman year and now she's your best friend. You go to your freshman locker and try the three year old combination just to see if it'll work. It doesn't, and a little part of you is disappointed. You jiggle the handle of the classroom where you met your high school sweetheart before realizing that it'll be locked because school is over. This is the last time you'll be in your school as a student, not a visitor. How are you feeling? Excited, over-whelmed, anxious, nervous, proud? Good, you should be! Graduating high school is an accomplishment and an honor in itself; not everyone makes it this far.
Flash forward a week and you're putting on the dress you bought a month ago or a tie your mom bought you for Christmas because she "can't believe her little baby is all grown up." You grab your cap and gown, which is freshly ironed because there's no way you can graduate with a wrinkled gown, and you get in your car and drive to the high school where all your friends are already waiting with excited smiles and eager eyes.
Twenty minutes later and you're in your lines behind that girl you met your freshman year in homeroom that is now your best friend and she squeezes your hand and whispers, "We did it." You walk side-by-side with the guy that sat behind you in chemistry. You quickly glance at him as the announcer says your names and you make your way down the aisle to your seat. There are people speaking, but you can barely hear them as your eyes scan the crowd for your family. Once you spot them, you give them a smile. You can see that your mom's eyes are watering already, and you can't help but laugh a little.
Ten more minutes and your name is called; you hear your little brother scream and hundreds of people clapping. The same gym floor you've been on thousands of times now seems a million miles long. What seems like an eternity later, you reach the stage and you're handed your diploma, the moment you've been waiting for for four years. You get back to your seat, and you can't contain your excitement. All you want now is for the ceremony to be over. Thirty minutes later and you're done, finally, you turn to your best friend and give her the biggest hug you've ever given anyone. You take about 150 pictures, making sure to not miss a single person.
Graduation is over. Now what? Less than a month ago you had to ask permission to go to the bathroom, and now you're being asked to make a major life decision. Take a breath and enjoy your last few months with your hometown friends before you all go your separate ways in the fall. Plan a road trip, go to an outdoor concert that's hosting bands you've never heard of, make time for family as well because you can't forget that you're leaving them too in a few months. The summer before your freshman year of college is the last time that you will all be together, whether it's at grad parties or at your local hangout spot, gas stations, quarries, waterfalls, bridges, rope swings or at Applebee's after 9 PM for half priced apps. You may not think that it will be the last time you will be together because you are "best friends for life," but this is the last time things will be the same.
Once you go to college and finish your first year, you will have responsibilities that you didn't have before. You'll have school friends that will want to visit. There are so many factors that will change your relationship with most people from high school. Soon you'll realize that you were only friends with certain people because you saw them five days a week for seven hours each day. Don't forget about working, either. Most likely after your first year away at school your parents will push you to get a summer job and start saving money for school. They can't pay for all your books, they'll tell you, so you start to work 35 hours a week to save money for the next semester. Next thing you know, you're always too tired or working to catch up with your friends from high school. And then boom, it's August 20th and you're packing up for sophomore year. Every summer after this summer will get busier and less friend-oriented because you're growing up. Stay up past curfew, take a midnight trip to the beach, make a memory you can cherish forever. This summer is yours to take and there's no one to stop you from having the time of your life.
Good luck to you, Class of 2016, as you step into the next chapter of your life. There is no better feeling than the sense of accomplishment. C'est la vie.
