Dear high school seniors,
It's that time of year. The moments that it feels like the last 13 years of school, and especially the last four years of high school, have been leading up to. And you've never been more excited. Prom is coming up. You've got you date (Or maybe not. I went stag to my senior prom and had a blast. Worry not.) You've got the dress, the heels, the tux and cumber bun, you're group has the limo booked and the table reserved. And before you know it, graduation will be upon you. You'll spend your days trying to figure out how to pay for all the graduation gifts you need to give and how to cram as many graduation parties as possible in your social calendar. You'll post on social media almost weekly about how much you can't wait to get out of here. Out of high school, out of your hometown, out from under your parents roof. Your friends will start wearing the T-shirts of the universities they've so carefully chosen every chance they get, and then before you know it, it will be over. You'll clean out your lockers, walk down the halls of the building you've practically lived in for the last four years, hug your favorite teachers goodbye, and walk out those front double doors into one of the best summers of your lives. And if I could give you one piece of advice about this summer it would be this: do it all.
As cliche as it sounds, nothing will ever be quite like it is right now. And the way it is right now won't even last the summer. By August, your friends will start attending their college orientations and fish camps, scheduling classes, packing up their childhood bedrooms, and making plans to say their goodbyes. These first few weeks are all you have left. So have early morning breakfast dates. If your best friend texts you at 3 a.m. and asks you to get waffles at IHOP with them, you roll out of bed, put on pants and get to that IHOP. If you were never a party person in high school, try one. If it isn't the scene for you, don't go again. Take a spur of the moment road trip to the next state over or to a local camping ground. Have a bonfire. Laugh till you cry. Take a million pictures. Take pictures of your friends laughing. Take pictures of your friends drinking coffee. Take pictures of your sister on the swings, your mother in the kitchen and your father napping on the couch. Have movie nights with your family. Memorize the way your best friends eyes wrinkle at the sides when they really truly laugh. Don't take for granted the cups in the cabinet above the microwave in your kitchen, or the pantry always stocked with food. Have coffee with your grandma. Bake cookies with your mom. Take your sister for ice cream or your brother to the skatepark. Take drives around your home town. Relish the familiarity of the streets you've driven on for years. Just soak it all in. Because before you know it it will all be over. You'll become a visitor in your childhood bedroom and on the streets of your town. People you've grown up with will be greeted with "How have you been?" instead of " How was your day?" You'll miss being in a place so familiar, so comfortable, but home won't feel so much like home anymore.
Everything is about to change. Now I don't say that to scare you. Change is good, and It's a completely necessary part of life. I'm just letting you know so you can be prepared. Because as much as you promise to keep friendships form high school close and traditions in tact; everything will be different. Not necessarily bad different—just different. So soak this time of your life in. Even the seemingly boring parts of it. Don't blink or you just might miss it. This is the time before the rest of your life. So take a deep breath, throw caution to the wind, and enjoy every last second of it.
Love,
A girl who wishes she had cherished it more.
