Dear Class of 2015,
In just a few weeks high school seniors all over the country will be graduating and embarking on the next phase in their lives - college. College is an exciting time that I personally wished came faster, but when it did finally come I realized just how much I was going to miss home.
Once you pull on that graduation gown never again will you truly belong at your high school. Never again will your hometown be the place that you spend majority of your year. Never again will you and all the members of your graduating class be together. It's scary when you think about it. One day it will all be different and you probably won't notice it changing until it has already changed.
During my senior year a constant refrain from my class was how excited we were to get out of high school and how there was nothing to do in our hometown. None of us realized that within months our entire worlds would change. People I thought I would stay in contact with have become just faces on my newsfeed. I didn't think that when it was my turn to pack up that my class, the class that seemed so close during school, would become like all the other graduating classes. Over the past few months we have become strangers to one another.
So here is some advice for the class of 2015 and the class of 2016, because before you know it it'll be your turn to pack up and leave it all behind.
Embrace the time you have with your friends.
This will be one of the last times that all of your friends will be in the same place. I know you all say you will meet up over the breaks but life gets away from you. It can take days to plan hangout sessions and then those moments are gone in an instant. This summer one of my best friends is going to Europe to study abroad for the whole summer. Embrace the time you have with your hometown friends because I can tell you as soon as you leave for college at the end of the summer, it will never be the same.
Hug your parents and family.
I told everybody that I wouldn't miss my rugrats of brothers - but I do, everyday. They are some of my best friends and biggest supporters and I don't know what I would do without them. To be honest, the dining hall food sucks so hug whoever does the cooking in your house because that's the best thing you will be eating for the next few months.
Get ready.
I thought I was ready. I thought I was going to be able to pack up my room, say goodbye to my friends, kiss my dad goodbye and give my beloved pugs a final ear scratch and walk out the door with no problem. That wasn't the case at all. I am not emotional but I bawled my eyes out when I packed up my room, when I said goodbye to my friends, when I kissed my dad goodbye and when it came time to give my pugs that final ear scratch; I couldn't do it. The day I left for college was one of the hardest days of my life because I was so scared I would leave and when I came back everything would be different. It was, but in the best ways.
So Class of 2015 and 2016 here is my final piece of advice: HAVE FUN. Embrace the time you have left at home and get ready for the time of your life in college. It will never be the same again and yet in a year you won't be able to imagine anything else.
