Dear Class of 2016,

As the end to your mandatory education is nearing, I can understand you must be feeling excited, relieved, nervous, and maybe even scared. Life after high school is fun, but also a lot of work. As you get to college, things change - from the aunt at your family reunions asking the innocent question of “what do you want to do when you get older?” or your school counselor throwing all kinds of college applications at you, to now finding out what you are really going to do with your life. Let’s face it, the majority of you will either enter into college with an undeclared major, or change your major at some time in the first two years. And you should know that it's okay. But before you get there, there are things you should know about your final year in high school.

1. School doesn’t become easy just because you are a senior.

My biggest mistake senior year was thinking that it would all be a breeze. I took classes I was familiar with, and was even a counselor’s aid for one period. But even with my schedule seeming like a ‘breeze’, I still ended up coming across struggles and I did not just breeze my way through my senior year.

2. Do not slack off just because you get accepted to a college.

I was one of the lucky ones and my top college choice had a rolling admissions style, which means there is no real deadline and they just accept applications as they come in, rather than accepting and declining them all at one time. I got accepted into college in September, about three weeks after my senior year started. I had always been told "Don’t give up on school until you’re accepted," but now that I had been accepted in the third week of school, what was I to do? Well, I did exactly what I had been told. I viewed myself as better than high school and started not to care anymore. That was until I realized I had a C in statistics, and had to have at least a B to exempt myself from the final exam. I said all that to say this: Do not slack off. Colleges can go back and decline your application if your grades slip a lot.

3. Get involved.

It is never too late to start getting involved with your school (and it looks better on applications anyway). From ninth to eleventh grade, I did basically nothing after school. I attended maybe three French club meetings and tried out for the spring play (and did not get casted...). I stopped doing things after that. When 12th grade started, I began to realize I had nothing interesting to talk about if anyone ever asked what I did after school. Sure I had stuff in the community I did, but nothing from school. I loved theatre, but had never tried out for another play after being rejected in ninth grade. I never did any sports, I didn't do the show choir, and I never felt like staying after school for any of the clubs. But as senior year came, I realized this was my last chance and I had to make my mark somehow. During the first semester, I again did nothing. But during spring semester, I directed a show for my theatre class and fell in love - so in love that I ended up jumping at the chance to direct it for the spring show (going completely full circle from being denied in ninth grade to directing in the 12th). If you choose not leave your mark, you are going to be forgotten. Brutal, yet true.

As you get closer and closer to letting your caps fly in the air, ENJOY YOURSELF and your final moments as a high schooler. You have the rest of your life to be an adult, enjoy being a careless teenager while you can... but not too careless!