Twenty One Pilots said in their song Stressed Out : "Wish we could turn back times, to the good old days",
I've never related to a line in music so much then when I heard this. During my Junior Year in high school and had been working in retail. My manager began to scoff at what appeared to be a recent high school graduate. She said, "Graduating High School really isn't that big of a deal, why does everyone make it such a big deal?".
I laughed along with her. At the time my Junior Year was the worst year of my high school career.
It was just so damn hard.
I would've never of guessed that within the next year, I'd be so attached to people and a place that I was so ready to let go. At this point, it literally hurts to let go.
Dear Seniors,
No matter how much you roll your eyes at the different faces you see around the halls, within the next few months, I encourage you to make those faces your friends. I promise you, it will not be something you regret.
I promised myself that after Christmas Break I would reach out to as many people in my graduating class as I could, not because I wanted them to remember me- but because I wanted to remember them. It will absolutely break your heart when you flip through that yearbook not being able to name everyone not being able to remember even the smallest memory like the time they fell at spirit week, or the fact that they were your valedictorian.
Treat your last sports game, like you're an NFL player retiring from 10th-year career. Don't walk off that field wishing you played harder, wishing you scored one last time. Own your number, and make it an honor for a underclassmen to wear that number. Make your parents proud to have stuck with you for those four years. Most importantly make your coach proud to have you start for their team, make yourself someone to remember, someone that's hard to replace. Lastly, make a underclassmen inspired to play as hard as you did on that field.
Your grades matter now, colleges are looking at you. Make them proud to accept you. Work hard, so you will be ready for your future a college. Make it a point to study for midterms and finals. Try your hardest (I'm being a HUGE hypocrite here) and try not to fall into senioritis.
When you slide on your final prom dress, tie up your final prom tie promise to make that night one to remember. Make it like the ones in the movies. When you zip up your gown, and place your cap on your head and watch your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncle wipe away the tears from their cheeks promise you won't regret walking away from that school. Promise that you made it four years to remember.
I wish I could turn back time and tell my manager that she's wrong, that graduating high school is a pretty damn big deal. You are closing a chapter of your life, and opening a brand new one. That is something to be eternally proud of, You did it..you made it this far.
Promise you'll keep your high school friends, for they knew you when you walked into school crying because you forgot to study for a test, because you got a detention because you lost someone. They knew you from 7am to 3pm and sometimes 6pm, they knew how to deal with you, when it was okay to ask you questions. They knew you when you were too tired to stand up for prayer or afternoon dismissal. They knew what classes you were good at, what sports you were good at. Keep them, for you, will be eternally grateful in the end.
Promise you'll thank your favorite teachers (and even the least) for they shaped you into the good (or bad) student you are. Thank your English teacher for teaching you how to write essays in amazing format, Thank your Math teacher for teaching you how to remember formulas and how to foil. Thank your History teacher for being easy your senior year you barely had to study.
I hope those four years you never regret anything, even that one party you got a little too drunk sophomore at that you were locked in a shed or that one time you almost fought at your lacrosse game. Or the time you spent all night dancing during senior trip instead of walking around and shopping, or even the time you took off your shirt and got called out by the DJ. Even that time you totally freaked out in the lazy river cave and hurt some random older lady. I hope you never regret the time you played the penis game on the ski lift and scarred hundreds of little kids. Or the time you spent all day in Harry Potter World instead of with the rest of your friends. I honestly hope you don't even regret that time you spend half the day in the deans office.
Good luck, make memories, I will forever be jealous of you for getting to experience the best year of my life.
Hey, not to scare you or anything you still have a decent amount of time left, make it count.