A Change of Mind

High school graduation day is something all students look forward to. It's where all of the hard work and frustration is finally paid of. The piles of homework, the constant tests, and the early am classes are ending. After so long, the day is finally here. When you walk in the rooms where the students are held waiting, you can sense the anxiousness and excitement they all feel. You don't quite understand it until you're in their position.

I was in that situation just a couple of months ago, and let me tell you it does not feel real. You feel as if you're on top of the world. There's nothing you can't do and to be honest, I had so much confidence that day that I wanted to go and do everything I ever dreamed of doing without any second thought. My happiness increased as I stood up and took the steps toward the stage. Listening to them call my name and seeing my parents' faces when I received that diploma will forever be engraved in my heart. I had finally made it.

Little did I know that I was so wrong. All of these things are still present in college, the only difference is my surroundings. I no longer have my best friends with me; I now have to figure out how to make friends all over again. There's the nervousness of discovering a whole new environment and I want to tell my friends about it, but I fail to realize that they too are going through the same thing. They, too, are filled with work and are going through this.

Now, two weeks into my new chapter I've come to realization that the promises I heard that graduation night won't be kept and that's okay. We are all going through this together even if we're not in the same college. Just because we don't see each other constantly doesn't mean we are going to stop being friends or that we are horrible people for not making our friendship a priority. I still love every single one of you so much, and I know that I've built such a beautiful and strong friendship that months can pass by and it'll feel as if we haven't changed.

But if one day we notice we did, we'll embrace that change and continue encouraging it. Because there is one thing I know for sure and that is seeing a person develop into the person they're supposed to be is a much more beautiful feeling than realizing you made it.