Here you are, picking out your white dresses and making sure your suit fits for graduation. Where did the time go? You could have sworn your mom just dropped you off for your first day of school two seconds ago. It seems like just yesterday you walked through those doors for your first time and smiled at that stranger you sat down next to homeroom who would soon become your best friend. High school flies by fast, so do not blink.
Senior year is a stressful time for high school students with college applications, classes, senior nights in the sports you participated in and all of the other events you are trying to squeeze in before graduation. Every senior has senioritis and claims they can not wait to get out of high school. With parents yelling at you about your future college career and the drama of high school, almost every senior is ready to get out of their high school and hometown and start fresh. But do not forget to pause, look around and take in what you have right now.
Senior year is one of the best years of your life. You do not realize that at the last football game when you dress up in the most outrageous costume due to the theme. You do not realize it during that final homecoming dance. You might start to realize it when you have senior night, but it has not hit you yet. Slowly, as prom rolls around, you look down at your planner and realize you only four weeks of school left. And within those four weeks, everything will hit, and it will hit hard. You begin to realize you will not get to sit at the lunch table with your best guy and girl friends of four years again. It hits you that you will never have another practice with your team or get to watch some of your best friends in another hockey game. It hits really hard that your friend group is all going separate ways, and within a couple months, they will all have new friends.
Then, the last week of classes comes around. You are having practices for graduation, and you roll your eyes at how long and boring it is. But let me tell you, hold on to those days. Those are the final days your class, your family of four years or more, will ever be together again. Look around and smile at the girl who was always in your class but never spoke, chuckle while looking at the class clown, remembering when you first met him freshmen year and hug your best friends because chances are, you will not attending the same college next year.
When graduation finally comes around and you are waiting in the back of the church, gym or hall in your white gown to walk down the aisle, reflect on your past four years. It is too late to live with regret, so smile about the good times and hold your head high while walking down the aisle. As you sit down in your sit in alphabetical order, realize this is the last time you may speak to that girl who was always in front of you in homeroom. Wish her good luck in the future and give her a hug because no matter what your reputation was in high school, these are the final moments everyone is remembering of their high school career. And when your name is finally called to get your diploma and walk up on that stage and look out at the crowd, remember this moment forever. Your whole class, their families, your teachers and finally, your family, are all staring at you smiling. Remember how blessed you are and how much those smiling faces have molded you into the person you are today.
As a college student currently, I look back on my high school career and can not help but smile. Those were some of the best years of my life. I reflect now on the fact I do not get to see my best friend, who I went to school with for more than 10 years every single day anymore. I am lucky if I get to see my family five times throughout my school year while at college. Isn't it funny how you do not know a good thing until it is gone? Just like most seniors, I, too, was very eager to graduate from high school. Do not get me wrong, I love college and the freedom it gives. But, if I could just go back to high school for one more week, I would not change anything but just soak it all in.
"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left" –Andy Bernard, "The Office."
