To all high school seniors,

You might want to sit down for all of this. Everything I'm about to tell you is shocking.

First off, no one in college is going to care if you were .00001 point away from a 4.0. In fact, no one will care what your GPA was at all. It's just a number. Colleges are making a big deal about it right now, but once you're sitting in your dorm room, crying into your last cup of ramen, and studying for your finals, no one will care.

No one's going to care if you played sports, did drama club, or sang in the choir. No one will care what classes you took, or what you looked like in your sophomore school pictures. No one's going to care who your high school boyfriend or girlfriend was, or if you're still together. People won't care if you were popular or not, if you took the right pictures with the right people, or if you had the best social life. Once you're in college, high school doesn't matter anymore. Once you graduate, leave high school behind. That doesn't mean you can't go back to visit teachers, cheer on your high school friends at basketball games, or see the spring musical. What you need to do is realize that high school is temporary, as is your popularity, your ownership of jerseys, and your time as class president. When you get to college, you won't be popular, you won't be homecoming queen, and you won't be that awkward sophomore in your school pictures. You won't be the most talented actor or actress at school (especially if you're a theater major), you won't be team captain, and you won't be valedictorian. You'll be an awkward first-year trying to figure out new-found freedom.

Want to know what people will care about? If you're a good person. People will care about whether or not you're honest, trustworthy, and polite. People will care if you took the time to pull the chunk of hair that got into the drain when you took a shower. People will care if you are a courteous roommate and floormate. People will care if you're stomping around your dorm room at 1 a.m. before a huge exam.

Second, the name of your school, to a certain extent, doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether you go to Harvard or the University of New Hampshire. What matters is what you do with your time at college, and the opportunities you take advantage of. I have friends at UNH who, as freshmen, have opportunities people at Harvard could only dream of. Do you know what the difference between UNH and Harvard is? $19,785 a year if you're out-of-state, and $33,055 a year if you're a New Hampshire resident.

Third, you don't have to go to college right after high school. People are telling you that, but sometimes, taking a gap year can be the best thing for you. Take a couple of general education classes at a community college, get a job, and figure out what you want to do with your life. Take this gap year to learn more about yourself. Plus, getting your gen. eds out of the way at a cheaper institution will save you money in the long run.

To follow up on that, you don't even have to go to college if that's not your thing. You can get a job where you can move up into a higher position. Go to beauty school. Go into the military. Take classes to become an EMT. There are opportunities in this world that don't require higher education.

Finally, your last semester of high school is around the corner. Don't take it for granted. Thank all of the teachers you had who not only taught you the required material, but taught you about life and chose to be your friend. Spend as much time with your friends as you possibly can. Don't slack on your school work, because it still counts. Take in these last few months and cherish them because you can't go back once you get your diploma.