Dear Second Semester High School Senior,

I know that waking up at the crack of dawn and doing the same thing every single day gets old very quick. I know that by this point senioritis has taken over your entire body making it hard to get out of bed and even walk into the door of school. I know that you think you could be doing so many other exciting and useful things than sitting through the same class everyday starring at the same boring slides on the board and being bossed around by someone who is still treating you like a child.

Believe me, I know what it is like to want nothing more than to get to the end of high school and walk across that stage in your cap and gown and finally be done, but please stop wishing it away.

Soon enough you will walk through those doors one last time and you will pass that kid in the hallway that you see every single day but you are unsure of their name for the last time. You will do everything one last time, so take that in. Make sure you can remember every second of it because I promise you will want those memories. Stop rushing through your school days just trying to get through, the last day will come and it will come faster than you think and you will want it to slow down but it won't, so take it in while you can. Leave high school knowing that you took every opportunity you could to make a memory that you will never forget. Do not graduate wishing you did something differently, you still have time, so do it now.

Take advantage of the routine you have grown to hate but you know it so well because soon that will be gone and you will never have something like that again. Take in all the faces around you that you have grown up with, you may not see some of these people ever again and this will hit you months down the road. Find peace in the familiarity of the people and places around you, you will need that peace in the stressful and overwhelming times that come next. Take advantage of personally knowing all of your teachers, that is something you will miss.

Go to every sporting event and scream in the stands like a crazy person with your friends. Go to the town diner afterward. Make traditions, be stupid, and laugh often. Go all out for your last spirit week, be a kid for a little longer. Get involved, and meet as many people as you possibly can. Make new friends and go out on the weekends. Do things you know you'll regret not doing. Do as much as you can in the time that you have left. Make the most out of high school moments, like prom. Buy the perfect dress and spend hours getting ready. Remember every second and remember who was there with you, making it one of the best nights of the year. Finally, on graduation day, just please take a moment to appreciate it all. Take a lot a pictures, a ridiculous amount of pictures, actually do that all year long and sit there and listen to every named called and soak it all in. Know that this is the end, take it in and then let it go, because just like that it's over. Just like that, you walk away from everything you have ever known and man is it scary.

So do yourself a favor with the time that you have left, make sure when you look back on your senior year the most adventurous, hilarious and memorable moments come flooding back.

Sincerely,

A reminiscing high school graduate