Dear High School Senior,

I know I'm coming late to the party since you are about half way through your senior year, but this is crunch time. It is time to get those applications in to colleges (please apply to more than one) and get ready to start your next journey in life. Before you know it you will be walking across the graduation stage in June carrying your diploma, but don’t waste all the months in between now and then.

As I said before, at this point you are half way through the school year and some of you may be getting irritated with your classmates and teachers but don’t overthink it. Make time for your friends because after this summer you will not see them all that often. BUT, if there is someone you really want nothing to do with, remove them from your life. I promise you will not want to speak to them when going through college and you will not miss them one bit.

This is the time where your senior year will truly start to fly by. You have already attended your last football game as a high school student and if you skipped out on football season make sure to attend basketball games. Or maybe you had your last chorus concert or last acting gig, these are memories you will hold on to for a lifetime so make sure to take plenty of pictures! BUT, don’t take so many pictures that will cause you to not be able to enjoy the moments with your loved ones.

Spend time with your friends. Whether you are choosing to stay close to home for college or go hours away, you will be making new friends and so will your high school friends. Do not skip out on the spontaneous trips to Wal-Mart, sporting events, parties, dances or anything that can allow you to hang around the people you grew up with. Before you know it, you will be at freshman orientation surrounded by a ton of strangers that don’t even know your name. I guarantee you will miss the kid who irritated you all through fourth grade or the friend who always chewed their gum like a cow.

Take advantages of all the resources you have in high school. Take advantage of the teachers who want nothing but the best for you, they want to help you succeed... I promise. Build up any relationship you can, you want to make a name for yourself. Being another student will not do anything for you in the long run and recommendation letters are very important. Make sure to thank your teachers, principals, guidance counselors, custodians, coaches and anyone else who helped you through your journey so far.

AND if you play a sport, appreciate your teammates. They are important not only for game time but they are also like your second family. They will help you succeed because they desire to see you succeed. Make sure you wish the same for them.

Go to senior prom, this is important. If you’re a girl go pick out your dream prom dress with all your best friends and if you’re a guy, well you can go choose a tux with your guys but you should probably bring your date along so you know you match. On another note, if you don’t have a date… who cares? Go with your friends and have the time of your life! This is one of the last times you will ever get super dressed up, other than your wedding day. You WILL miss high school dances. Especially next year when you see pictures of your younger high school friends heading to their dances.

This summer coming up will be one of the best summers of your life. It is time to figure yourself out before you take on a new adventure. You will have your last sleepovers with your best friends, your last movie nights, and plenty more lasts until you arrive back home for winter break.

Lastly, ENJOY HOW EASY HIGH SCHOOL IS. College is awesome because you don’t have someone telling you what to do 24/7, but it is also hard because you don’t have someone telling you what to do. In college you figure out when things are due on your own, it is extremely rare for a professor to talk about an assignment because it is all written in the syllabus. I guarantee you will not have a professor standing over you saying, “Don’t forget to finish your essay for class on Wednesday” and they definitely will not move the due date back for you if you forgot about the assignment.

I know it seems far away, but soon enough (if you aren’t already) you will be counting down the days until prom, your last day of classes and graduation day. When you walk across that stage on graduation day you will see many people from you graduating class for the last time ever so in the end, if you appreciated them let them know. People will change after high school, it is important to stay connected to your high school friends but also to reach out and make new friends in college. You do not want to be known as the kid who is stuck in high school. Speaking of college, move in day will happen before you know it. Before you know it you will be assigned a roommate and you will start picking out new things for your dorm. And just like that, you will be spending your last night at home in your own bed, surrounded by your pets and people who have been there since the beginning. Don’t take this for granted. If you have been wishing your senior year away, stop it right now. Live in the moment and enjoy everyone around you. I promise, you will come to a time where you are sitting in your dorm room wishing you wouldn’t have rushed through your senior year.

Love,

A College Freshman