Graduation is the time you have been waiting for for what seems like forever. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was only two years ago, but still. I remember the rush of excitement taking my last exam, waking up on the last day of high school and saying my farewells as I walked out of my high school for the very last time as a student. I thought I was so ready to move on, so ready to start the next chapter.
What I wasn't ready for were the challenges. I realized it was the last time I would see most of my best friends, the friends that I had in certain classes, the teachers who made each school day worth it and the last time I had it genuinely easy.
High school will not be the hardest part of your life, not even close. College will be much harder, adulthood will bite you in the butt and setting your life on the right track might even get messy. Whatever you do, don't think leaving high school is the greatest part of your life because it was "so hard."
I wish someone would have told me to cherish high school more than I did so much at the time. I took for granted walking through those doors late every single day with an iced coffee in my hand. I took for granted all the laughter that was shared in the walls of the school. Now it's over. For something that seemed to be so far away, graduation came really fast.
Whether you are in high school, graduating soon or even have been out of high school for some time. Do not forget to hold onto your high school memories, all the freedom you had and all the fun you hate to admit you had in school. Life out of high school is not bad, but it can be confusing.
When you are in high school you have a set routine every day. When you are out of high school you have some big decisions to make, what set routine will you now have? Will you start working? Will you go to college? Will you join the Army? Will you move thousands of miles from home? The only person who knows and can decide that is you.
For the students in high school, start cherishing the little things. It's cliché, but there's a reason everyone says it. For the graduates this year, remember what part of high school you loved and hold onto that, and get ready for the next big decision in life.
For those that are out of high school, also remember that high school helped shape you into who you are now, and appreciate that. Do not let high school be the worst part of life but also not the greatest because you will go on and do much bigger and much more amazing things in your life.
