It’s funny how we spend our whole lives in school so excited to reach our final graduation date and then when it finally arrives, it becomes our worst fear. It’s this bittersweet feeling that you experience where you are so excited to move on and start the rest of your life, but you’re scared to death because you are not even sure what state you will be living in three weeks from now. This is me telling you that whether you are five minutes from home or a million miles away, I’m so proud of you and I’ll be there to help you figure out your future.
As soon as life gets tough, everyone begins to say to take things one day at a time; do this. You don’t need to be afraid of three weeks from now, be excited for today. Today, you can do anything you want to do with your 24 hours. During those hours making sure you are doing everything you want to do and can do, so by the end of it, you’re proud. If you do everything to your best ability each day, I promise in three weeks you will be farther than you can ever imagine.
Don’t compare yourself to the people around you. Just because you are walking across the stage with a thousand other students, doesn’t mean you all have the same path. Yes, maybe your friends have exciting plans and jobs and apartments, but think of all of the wonderful things you have done. You are your own person with your own plan and in my opinion, you’ll be better at life than anyone.
You have more planned than you think you do. I know that you like to have a 'To-Do List' for all your tasks and a strict itinerary for every trip, but unfortunately life is not that simple. I want you to know that just because your plan is not exact, does not mean there is not one. You have spent the last twenty one years of your life preparing for your future.
You know how to walk into a room and make every single person smile. You know how to respect every single person around you. You know how to be unique when surrounded by stereotype, and you are not willing to conform. You know how to be passionate about what matters to you and our world. You know to make these jokes that are not funny at all, but at the same time, everyone always laughs. You know how to prioritize everything in your life. You know to handle everything that is thrown towards you better than most could. You know how to smile, even though life is not the easiest always. You know how to be the best friend a girl could ask for.
Remember all of those crying nights, panicking texts, and crazy experiences you went through with me? If that did not prepare you for life, I don’t know what will. You are ready. You may not have a list of plans, but you know how to be a pretty swell human being and that’s what matters now and will matter in three weeks still.
Nobody is perfect and everyone struggles. Sometimes I ask you to do simple math and you can’t, but at least every time I get the 20-piece nugget meal you know how many are in there! Sometimes I ask you what your plan for the future is and you aren’t exactly sure, but at least you know it’ll all come together eventually because you’ve worked so hard for this.
Maybe we don’t know exactly where you will be in three weeks, but at least you can know that you will still always have a place in my heart. I mean, we did create our own friendship hashtag, so clearly I am not going anywhere. As your best friend, I could not be more excited to watch your life come together and I’m excited for the adventure of a journey.
Best friend, you don’t need to be afraid of graduating. Graduation is just another accomplishment to add to your life; it is not the end, but the beginning. Let’s celebrate the wonderfully, beautiful life that you’ll keep living.
