“You’re gonna miss this. You’re gonna want this back. You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast. These are some good times, so take a good look around. You may not know it now, but you’re gonna miss this.” -Trace Adkins

Dear High School Senior,

You have two months left of high school, so how are you going to make the most out of them? Take my advice, don’t worry about the little things, don’t stress, and please, whatever you do, don’t waste these last days you have left in high school. Make these last months of your senior year filled with as many memories as possible, because this is all you have left. Don’t rush these last two months and appreciate every moment, because you will never get them back.

All of those times where you’re just messing around with your best friends until you’re crying from how much you’re laughing are what you’re going to remember. You aren’t going to remember how you bombed that one math test or that one late assignment. Do you know what you’re going to remember? You’re going to remember those Friday night lights and the rivalry you had with that one school during football season. You’re going to remember the assemblies, daily lunches with your friends, senior skip day, homecoming, prom (trust me on this one and go to your senior prom), the butterflies you're going to get in your stomach right before you walk into the arena at graduation, and when you walk across that stage to get your diploma. That is what you’re going to remember; all of the memories you make.

So please appreciate everything about these last two months of your senior year. Appreciate seeing your friends every day, appreciate those conversations you have with your friends walking to each class, and appreciate going to lunch with your friends. Appreciate your family and seeing them every day (because you’re going to miss your family more than you can imagine). Appreciate everything about your senior year, because I promise you that these last two months are going to fly by faster than you think.

You might think that you already realize how fast senior year is going by or how fast high school is coming to an end, but I promise you don’t. You’ll start to realize it when you get back from spring break, get your cap and gown, and start to hear about your Senior Grad Party. You’ll start to realize it when it’s May and you vote for senior best, and also realize that it is your last month of high school. You’ll start to realize it at your Senior Assembly and picnic. You’ll start to realize it when you go to graduation rehearsal the morning of graduation. You’ll begin to realize it at graduation when you take a look around and realize that after this everyone will be going their separate ways and nothing will be the same again. You’ll start to realize it more and more when summer comes and you and all of your friends are getting your roommates, registering for classes, and going to orientation. It still won’t hit you completely when you are packing up the room you have spent your whole life living in. You might start to realize it the morning you leave for college when you are hugging your family and your friends goodbye.

But I can promise you this—it will finally hit you when you are moved in to your dorm with your new roommate that you will live with for the next year. At that moment, you’ll finally realize that you’re officially in college and on your own. So please whatever you do make every second of your senior year count, because you will never get it back. Yes, college is going to be exciting, but right now, college is still a few months away, so please appreciate the time you still have in high school.

Now, go enjoy what you have left of your senior year.