Dear Seniors,

This season will be one of the most fun and memorable seasons of your life so far. Cherish it! But it could also be one of the most stressful. At least, I know it was for me.

There are so many decisions you will have to make in the 365 days to come. Where to apply to school, where to actually go, where you'll want to live next year, who you'll want to live with. And it's the little things that sneak up on you, like what kind of comforter you'll want for your dorm or what pictures you want to print out and hang on the wall. Just when you think you've faced every decision possible, another will hit you in the face.

Don't let this time be completely stressful! This is a mistake I made during my senior year, and now that I'm actually in college I can tell you that all my worrying was useless.

Something I wish someone had been there to tell me was that you might not walk onto any college campus and think, "Ah, this is the place I'm supposed to be for the next four years." I never felt this, and I felt like people had put so much stock in it that it majorly delayed my decision on where to go to college. (Literally, I made my decision two days before the national May 1^st deadline...) I spent months agonizing on where to go, and eventually ended up at the school I swore I would never attend.

You will end up where you're supposed to end up. And that place may very well be the one you least expect. Now, this doesn't mean that you can sit back and let that May 1^st deadline come and go without lifting a finger, but don't make yourself sick about it. It's just not worth the time and energy.

And don't forget to cherish the time you have left in high school. Trust me, there is life beyond high school – it does get better and you will move on and never look back. But it's not worth spending every waking moment waiting for the next stage. Do this, and you'll end up wishing your life away, because you'll always be waiting for the next semester, or the next job, or whatever else is "next" in your plan. And usually, life doesn't go according to your plan.

Your friends may change over the next year or year and a half. Let it happen. Don't hold on past the ending of any relationship after it is clearly over, but don't sit back and lose the people you love because you don't invest in them. Some things are meant to only last for a season.

And one final point I'm going to make because I feel it is so so so important:

Don't ignore your parents. You're on the brink of a new adventure and you're probably dying to get out from under their wings and experience that newfound freedom. But as excited as you are, they're probably just as devastated, if not more. When you move out, whether you like it or not, you're going to miss them—especially once you start to notice all the little things they did for you that they aren't there to do anymore. Don't ignore them while you still live with them. It'll make all of your lives easier in the long run... trust me.

The transition into your next stage of life is scary at first, but eventually, it will become your new normal. And you have so many people rooting for you along the way!