Dear Future Freshmen,

When I mean these next four years of your life are going to fly by, they will fly by. Not only that, when you get to the position I am in, four days before you walk across that stage and get your diploma, occasionally you will wonder if you those four years actually existed at all.

Then you will remember.

You will remember freshman year when you walked down the halls of your new high school and got lost at some point on the first day. You will spend the year looking for cute people to crush on, only to realize by February that the majority of upperclassmen do not have good intentions when it comes to dating freshmen.

You will remember sophomore year by the honors courses, the slap in your face it gives to you as midterms are rolling near and you do not enjoy this year because “it was not like ninth grade at all.” If I could say anything to my sophomore self back then, it would be to “just wait. It gets worse, I promise.”

The smell of your first car will resonate in your nose for the longest time, or forever. And maybe, if you are decent at sports, you will hear your name called out for the first time over the intercom on the field or court as a starting varsity player.

You will remember junior year by all the ACTs and constant reminders that this is the most important year of your academic career. It is the last year you will care about academics at all; the motivation you have now will be nonexistent by the time the next year rolls around.

You will begin to realize that you took every other year of your education for granted because they are nothing compared to the misery you are experiencing now. The only thing I can tell you to do is pray endlessly, and stock up on ice cream.

And finally, you will remember senior year by the “last’s.” It will be your last football game, your last Christmas program, your last prom week. All of the past four years are summed into one word: “goodbye.” If you’re like me, you have to have closure- and you would assume that the moving of the cat toy on your cap will end everything effortlessly.

But the memories you have made these past four years will not be forgotten easily. Whether you want to or not, you will hold on to the times your teachers praised you, and the times your coaches let you down. You will always remember the friends who held you in your darkest times and the ones who slipped away at their convenience.

No major milestones or setbacks, despite how much or how little you may try to forget, will slip away from you. It is my suggestion, as a high school graduate, to make the most of your time in what many (myself included) call a “prison.”

Do not let these next four years go to waste; for if you do, you will not be able to cherish them. And that is what high school is about: cherishing the moments so that they will become fond memories.

Love,

A Graduating Senior