Dear graduate,

You made it! Congratulations! I, among many others, am so proud of you. High school has been a pivotal point for you thus far, but there's so much ahead for you. Unfortunately, nothing will be as easy as high school was -- it becomes harder to maintain contact with your friends, for example, and you'll run into professors who couldn't care less whether or not you have a migraine and will penalize you for missing class. So while conquering this transition into adulthood is something to tip a hat to, there are some rocks in the road you need to prepare for.

Financial situations get even tougher, so getting a job is extremely important. It helps so much with spending money if you're at a college or university, and sometimes, it gives you just enough to cover your textbook bill. (Life hack: buy your textbooks from Amazon, it can save you a couple of hundred dollars.) In addition to covering the multiple expenses you'll run into, having a job at the same time as being a full student teaches you the meaning of time management and discipline. If you have a position lined up already, great! You're a step ahead of the game, and that's a fantastic place to be in.

Friendships are hard to maintain at a distance, as well as relationships. While it is possible for high school sweethearts to survive college and go on into marriage, it's more likely that your heart will be broken. There isn't anything wrong with that -- enjoy your person while you can, and if you split, there was a reason for it. If you and your supposed best friend meet up after being gone a long time but you can't seem to reconnect on the same level no matter how hard you try, the friendship just might not be as unbreakable as you thought it would be. Again, there isn't anything wrong with it -- enjoy the time you have together, and if some of the friendships you have dissolve, then let it be. Life pulls, pushes, and forces us into different molds as time moves on, and some molds aren't as compatible as others.

Heading into the adult world is frightening, and I'm saying this from a standpoint of dipping my toe into the pool. I'm very fortunate to have my parents helping me with my phone bill and my insurance, and I have a great job that allows me to take night classes. But for some of you, you aren't that lucky. Some of you aren't going to college right away, some not at all, because you'd rather work or go into the military. Whatever your path, be prepared to hit the ground running -- life isn't lined with pillows, so even if you land hard on your butt, you have to keep going. Cliched though that may be, the world doesn't give out bandages and free gold medals, so learning independence and self-reliance will serve you well.

Tough love aside, I'm so proud of each and every one of you. I want to ask one thing of you -- take some time to reflect on your senior year, and choose one memory to immerse yourself in. Could be the football game your team won, could be a prom anecdote; just choose your favorite moment. Close your eyes and go back to that place, ignore any drama that happened in high school, and take in the sight and sound. Picture your best friends' faces, your most beloved teacher, the person you always thought was cute. Imagine being back in that place, then lock that in your mind and in your heart. If nothing else, let that be the way you remember your year.

Whatever path you choose, whatever career you decide to follow, and whomever you bump into along the way, remember this: high school was the beginning of adulthood, and you made it that far; there's no reason you can't keep going.