Dear Class of 2015,
The day you've been waiting the past four years for is finally here-- you're graduating high school. Can you believe it? I know, it seems like just yesterday you were entering your soon-to-be alma mater, wearing ripped Hollister skinny jeans and sparkly Vans, thinking you were hot sh*t but a little terrified at the same time. The four years that followed were a whirlwind: all a mess of long nights making microwave quesadillas and watching scary movies with your best friends, cheering on your football team at freezing November games, homecomings and tolos and proms, your first love and your first hearbreak. And all too soon you only had three weeks left at your now way too small school.
So, as you finish up your last AP exam, and get ready for your final prom, and start to pick out decorations for your dorm room and count down the days until you get to finally, finally throw your own cap in the air, I urge you to slow down a bit.
The last few weeks of your senior year and final real summer at home are exciting. Everyone is so over eating lunch with 13 year olds who look like they're still in middle school, and the prospect of living without parents and entering a world where you can be whoever you want to be is almost too much to take in. But, with all the chaos of wanting to get out of your hometown as soon as you exit those high school doors, you'll likely forget to cherish the little things this summer.
While you're looking through pamphlets and profiles of all the sororities at your college of choice, don't forget to spend time with your friends you already have at home. Be kids for the last time you really can: ride along endless roads with the windows down, singing along to old Maroon 5 albums at the top of your lungs; take silly pictures together without shame, because you'll find yourself longing to see their faces when you get homesick the first few weeks at school; stay out too late and do stupid things together, because those are the memories you'll cherish when you're apart.
When you're throwing dorm decorations in the cart at Target and yammering on about how excited you are for your new home to your mom, remember that your family is going to miss you when you move out. Stay home for dinner and make an effort to sit down and talk to them, and I mean really talk to them a few times a week-- trust me, you'll miss those conversations when you're having a stressful day at school. Make time for your siblings; when you find yourself ditching them at home for the fourth night in a row, stay in the next night and watch a movie together. As much as it doesn't seem like it now, you'll miss them just as much as they're going to miss you when you're gone.
And most of all, enjoy your last summer of freedom. In the coming years, you'll be expected to pick up a job or an internship or some summer classes, and you may not even be home. Use the coming weeks to really explore your hometown, or travel, or just spend time chilling with your oldest friends. Because, in the blink of an eye, you'll be moved into your new home and everything is going to change.
