Dear friend,

First of all, I would like to say congratulations. You did it! You made it through the best four years, or maybe even the worst four years, of your life. You're probably feeling a whirlwind of emotions right now - excitement, fear, anticipation, happiness, nostalgia, sadness – the list could go on and on.

You're probably beyond excited to graduate; you're counting down the days until you get to toss your cap into the air, take a bunch of super cute pictures with your family and friends and celebrate the night away with your best friends.

You're probably beyond scared for what the future holds. How are you going to make a whole new set of friends? What are you going to major in? How hard are classes going to be? What if your roommate is a total weirdo? What is college even like? The anticipation leading up to move-in-day is like no other. The thought of living on your own is terrifying and having to feed yourself, do your own laundry and basically take care of yourself without parental supervision is just as scary.

You're probably beyond happy to get out of high school. No more eight-hour school days, no more dress code, no more detention. A life of freedom awaits you - no curfew, no strict parents to tell you when to do your homework and take out the trash and very few (if any) rules to live by. You will be able to hang out with your friends at 3 a.m., skip class everyday (which is ill-advised, but you do you), and go out every/any night of the week (which is also ill-advised). College is one huge breath of fresh air. Every night is a sleepover and every night is someone's Friday night.

You're probably beyond nostalgic; it seems like just yesterday you were a timid freshman trying your best to fit in. Now you're 18 and getting ready to move out and live on your own. Where has the time gone?

While you may be feeling a whirlwind of emotions, there is one thing that probably hasn't hit you yet - reality. You won't feel it for a while. It won't come as you walk across the stage and grab your diploma. It won't hit you as you say goodbye to all of your friends and family at your grad party and it won't even hit you as you're packing up all of your belongings as you prepare to move out of your childhood bedroom. Reality will hit you when you're sitting in your dorm, hundreds, or maybe thousands, of miles away from home, all alone and in a completely new place - it will be terrifying.

High school is different for everyone. Some people love it, and some people absolutely hate it. Some of you may be dying to get the hell out of there and some of you may be holding on to the final moments for dear life. No matter what/how you feel about your high school experiences, I can promise you one thing: you will miss it. You will miss it all. You'll miss the big things, like prom, seeing the school play every fall and spring, Powderpuff, pep assemblies, winning state championships, home football games and rivalry games. You'll miss the little things, like early morning coffee runs with your best friends, wearing your jersey to school on game days, driving around your hometown blaring music late at night, knowing (mostly) everyone in your classes and being comfortable in the confines of the hallways of your school. Despite what you may think, you will miss the familiarity of it all.

So, with that being said, soak up these final moments with your friends and family. These next few weeks are your final weeks before truly entering adulthood. Live it up, have fun and go out with a bang. The real world is waiting for you and I can't wait to watch you watch you conquer it. Congratulations.

You made it.

Sincerely,

Hailey Wilson