Everyone always tells you not to wish it away because it went by fast, and you never think that's true until you're one week away from running out on the last day. Until you're sitting in your cap and gown next people you've gone to school with for years. Until you're packing up your car to go move into a dorm for the first time. It does go fast, but it's okay to be counting down the days as long as you remember a few simple things.
My biggest advice to any underclassmen: don't wish away a year. It's true, the days are long but the years are short and if for one minute you don't think you will miss it, realize sooner or later your best friend won't be eight minutes away, your dog won't be laying at the foot of your bed, and your mom won't be a yell down the hall. It's a long, draining process, but never wish to be older - because when you are, all you will want to do is look back.
Don't freak out if your best friends from freshmen year aren't the same on the last day when you're making matching shirts and it isn't with who you'd always thought, that's okay. The perfect friends since kindergarten stories aren't as common as they seem. Start to hang out with the kids in your class and make them more than just "school friends" you never know what could happen. For me, my "school friend" of seven years became my best friend real fast.
And when it's two A.M and you've been studying for hours upon hours and you still don't feel it's good enough: grab some water, wash your face and go cuddle with your mom/dog/cat/pillow/whatever, just cuddle up in bed. The grade isn't going to prevent college acceptances and your mental health is always ten times more important than any piece of paper with questions about the powerhouse of the cell.
On that same note, take mental health days one absent, one missed homework, one day behind won't hurt you, but one bad thought can. Focus on yourself. Understand that high school is supposed to suck, but you can make it better by taking care of yourself.
Also, just be nice. When you see someone in the hall who maybe isn't having the best day, best friends or not, say hi. Ask if they are okay. If you notice someone sitting alone at lunch or in study go over and say hi, maybe it's one conversation, maybe they are the maid of honor at your wedding. If you notice someone struggling in a class, offer to stay after with them. This world is an awful place, but we don't have to be.
I could go on and on about things I was told and things I finally realize, but an underclassman won't get it yet. And they're not supposed to. They're supposed to roll their eyes at all the cliché advice and wish away every day they walk through the same halls of high school. But then when they have a week left before going separate ways from everyone and everything they have ever known, then they'll get it. That's when they're supposed to get it, when we got it. That's when it all clicks. When you realize you'll miss the kid who was in all your classes but you never talked to, your mom is about to be only accessible by phone, and the best friend you've had forever will be more than eight minutes away.
