It's here, the end of your high school career. After 13 years of waking up at 6:00 a.m., sitting at a desk for five hours per day, and indulging in some not-so-nutritious school lunches every day, it's finally over.
The bell will ring for the ninth period on your last day. A feeling of euphoria and relief will rush through you, but, even as you say goodbye to your favorite teachers and classmates, it still won't hit you. You'll walk through the double doors of the place that you've called your high school for the last time as a student. You'll drive out of the student parking lot, blasting your favorite song on the radio and looking out the window at the tall brick building that you've spent the past four years in, but somehow it still won't hit you. This is the end. From here on out, everything will change.
The truth is, after you leave that building on your last day, nothing will be the same. After you walk across that stage and take your diploma, nobody will care that you got a mastery on your trig regents. Nobody will care that you got MVP on your sports team or that you got a five on your AP exam. It won't matter that you received the highest grade point average in your class or won biggest flirt.
Although these are all things to be proud of, these temporary labels aren't what you will hold onto.
Your parents just left after helping you unpack. You're alone in your first college dorm room. Your roommate hasn't arrived yet and you have yet to introduce yourself to anyone in this strange place that you worked so hard to get into. This is when it will hit you.
When you're sitting on your bed in your empty dorm room, you're not going to reach for your report cards or your SAT scores. You're going to reach for your photo album. You're going to reach for the letter that your best friend wrote you. You're going to reach for your yearbook.
"The goal isn't to live forever, but to create something that will."
The real world is hard. Things will not be easy. When you're crying in your dorm alone at 2:00 in the morning, you won't find comfort in your ACT scores.
You'll think of your high school coach who was hard on you because she wanted to reveal your greatest potential. You'll think of your favorite teacher believing in you, even when you didn't believe in yourself. You'll think of your parents attending every boring awards ceremony and being proud of what you've accomplished. You'll think of dancing with your best friends at prom and senior dinner dance. You'll remember your last high school game, hugging and crying with your teammates because it's been a long, hard ride.
You will think of the unbreakable bonds that you've built, and the life-long friendships that you've created. You will remember the laughs that you shared with those who always believed in you and who saw you at your worst.
So, at graduation, take as many pictures as you can. Hug your friends tight and don't be afraid to cry. Tell your teachers thank you and tell your parents that you love them. Take pride in the fact that you made it and smile at the wonderful future to come.
Life is not about the material things like the piece of paper that you will receive at graduation. Life is about the relationships that you've built and the lives that you impacted along the way. You will learn so many things in your pursuit of life, but the most important thing that you will learn is how to positively impact others and how to allow others to positively impact you. Grow and encourage others to grow. As you enter a new chapter of your life, smile because these things are what will live forever.
