Dear High School Seniors,
It's the final semester of senior year and you are ready to finally graduate, get out of the same city you have been stuck in for way too long, and leave home. I know, I was in the same state of mind as you just a short year ago. However, now I take every chance I can get to go back home, to the same city I've lived in for ten years, and I don't want to go back to the unfamiliarity of college sometimes. It is not because I hate my classes, the workload, or because I hate the dining halls (shout out to Fresh Foods, I love you).
I miss knowing the city I live in like its map is on the back of my hand. I miss the familiarity. I miss the comfort of my city. Overall, I miss all the memories I took for granted, waving them off as if they were something that I could easily re-live. You will not be able to go back to high school and live like you used to. Everything changes after you leave home for the first time. I wish I had listened when everyone told me high school would be the best years of my life. They will tell you college is the best years of your life — but it is a completely different vibe than high school, and maybe that's what I miss so much.
I don't mean for this to be somber, I just wish that someone had told me while I was rushing to get out of my little city, to take a moment and take in everything that was happening around me (looking at you, Ferris). Take in your last high school pep rally, scream the loudest you have ever screamed and lose your voice for your team. Take in your last high school football game. It is the last time you will be able to storm the field without getting your school fined (*cough* Auburn *cough*). Storm that field and scream for your team's win with the people you will never see again. I wish I had known how much I would I miss it.
Call me old-fashioned, but these are the best years of your life. Take it in. Some of the people you deem your closest friends will soon become cherished memories that you seem to not have enough of.