365 days later, and I can still recall the fruitless days of procrastinating, “catching senioritis”, wanting high school to be over, and the most depressing: not exerting my best work effort due to the lousy excuse of “it’s senior year.”

The last year of my high school career consisted mostly of 2 things: getting “good enough” grades to get by and socializing. I spent so much time dreaming of how I would execute my goals in the future, that I failed to recognize the power of the present. You have a generous amount of time in high school to hone your skills, build upon your knowledge, mess up, and learn new things within yourself, but the majority of teenagers don’t acknowledge their advantage.

Most high schoolers believe their lives begin once they get to the next chapter, once they have a new start.

Most high schoolers wait until college to finally chase their passion.

Most high schoolers can’t comprehend the amount of progress they could make even as high schoolers.

I was a part of the “most high schoolers”, but I’m here to tell you how to make the most of your last year all while still having fun.

1. Understand that time is one of your biggest assets.

Everyone has 24 hours in their day, so why do people accomplish more than others? Realize that every minute can be meaningful and used to your benefit when you solicit time to engage in activities that will make better. If you want to be a writer, find time to write every single day. If you want to be a chef, make time to cook every day, or even multiple times a day. Make it a priority not only practice your craft but to practice it hard. Discomfort and challenges are prerequisites for success, so if it’s easy, then you’re probably stuck not being amazing. Think of how much progress and improvement can be made in a year, a month, or even a week if practicing hard is a daily ritual.

2. Ditch the partiers, and befriend the intellectuals.

You probably can’t comprehend this now, but believe me when I say that getting wasted, being “wild”, and consuming alcohol is not worth the legal punishment, nor the personal consequences. What are you truly accomplishing by engaging in these acts? If going out and becoming so intoxicated that you’re incapable of holding yourself together is how you spend your free time, think of how much you’re really amounting to. Don’t take for granted these years where you can develop beneficial habits that can influence the rest of your life. You become like the people you surround yourself with, so choose wisely. Be around people of higher intelligence, people that advocate for your goals, people with promising dreams that have a work ethic to back them up, and people who will contribute to your growth. I promise you will reap the benefits.

3. Know what you want and have a plan.

An abundance of people will question what your plans are for next year, and more than half the time you’ll reply, “I’m not 100% sure.” You’ll get a response with something along the lines of “that’s okay, no one knows what they want to do at your age.” And I’m here to shut that popular statement down. What’s the point of paying for a college education, and spending four years of your life in a major that you’re not even certain you want to seriously pursue? It’s a waste; it’s like ordering all of the food on a menu but only consuming four dishes. Have one ultimate goal, write it down, and then make a roadmap of what you can do every single day to bring you closer to achieving that one goal. Write it down. Research has proven that those who write down their goals on a regular basis achieved those desires at a higher rate than those who did not. By knowing exactly what you want, you’ll become more focused, more productive, and most importantly, you’ll be making progress every single day.

4. Give time to yourself.

Alone time is valuable and honestly where most of my self-growth comes from. Whether it’s working out, journaling, reflecting on your life, setting new goals, or going out to eat just by yourself, make it a priority to solicit time that’s solely dedicated to you. Take care of yourself by eating healthy and getting a good amount of sleep. Be kind to yourself, and acknowledge the amazing progress you’ve made so far. Never compare your first step to someone’s 56th step. We are human beings, and regardless of age, grade, or social status, all of us can get caught in the hole of despair with all of life’s responsibilities. Growing up is hard, so never be afraid to be a little selfish and do something that helps you.

5. Your life starts now.

If there’s anything that I wish I would’ve known in high school, it would be this. Instead of focusing on the fact that it's your last year of high school, realize you have your whole entire life ahead of you. You can make progress towards your dreams, you can take that bold move of doing something you never thought you could achieve, and you can reap an immense amount of success at a young age. There are well-meaningful people in this world who will doubt you, dismiss you, and look down on your aspirations due to your youthfulness, but these are the people who have given up on their own dreams. You see, most people wait until college to seriously pursue their passion, then when they get to the next level they’re waiting until they graduate, then they wait till they have a secure job, and so the cycle continues until they are waiting for that “right moment” and have no time left. Read books to help expand your knowledge, write a script to help enhance your skills, film a short movie to gain experience. Whatever you aspire to do, go out and do that now. If you’ve come across anyone who is great at anything, they’ve practiced their craft over time; an intelligent person has learned over time. Everything that is mastered has been over time, and time is something that we’re given each and every day. I hope you use it to your advantage.