Dear my not-so-little sister,
Wow. When did you grow up? It feels like just yesterday when we were running around the backyard playing make believe and dress-up.
It's crazy how fast time flies. One minute I'm at your kindergarten graduation excited for you to enter the elementary school with me and the next I'm receiving text messages with pictures of you in different prom dresses asking for my opinion.
Somewhere in between, I came home from college on break to find you driving the car around town. Let me say, I am very proud of the young woman you have become.
As you begin your second semester of your senior year of high school, allow me to provide you with some big sister advice.
Don't rush to the finish line.
I get it. You are ready to move on to bigger and better things. The high school drama is overrated, and quite honestly, it's just annoying at this point. I was the same way. From the moment I set foot into that high school on the first day of my senior year, I began counting down the days to when I would take my last step out of that place.
You started counting down the days as soon as I came home to visit during my first break, filled with stories about how great college life is. It's true, college is better than high school. But don't make the same mistake I did.
These last six months you have at home are the last six months you and your best friends are going to be in close proximity to one another for a long period of time at once. Take advantage of it. Use all of your free time gossiping over fro-yo or going to the mall just because. There will be plenty of time to plan your next four college years later.
Make the most of what senior year has to offer.
We may be very different, but we share a lack of school spirit for our high school. For your last semester, fake it. Go to the sports games, participate in the senior activities, plan an awesome "Senior Skip Day." Write sappy letters in your friends' yearbooks, break the dress code, and go on that senior trip. That's one thing I did right, and I hope you do the same.
If prom doesn't go perfectly, it's not the end of the world.
The drama leading up to the big night sucks, and it's usually over nothing important. Don't let the pointless arguments about who is sitting at whose table or who is in whose limo ruin friendships. Prom night will not be flawless, guaranteed. just make the most of it. I know how much you hate being in pictures, but take them anyway. You only get one senior prom, and to you it may be the last time you see 99 percent of your graduating class ever again, but someday you'll want to reminisce on the memories you had with them.
Enjoy graduation.
It will be hot, you will be sweating, and you will hate listening to all the boring speeches because you're only there to throw the cap into the air and be officially done. After the ceremony is over, you'll want to rush home and never look back. Take the time to say goodbye to the school. Pose for every picture Mom and Dad want to take and smile for every selfie with your best friends. You'll regret it if you don't.
As you prepare to take your final steps out of the high school, try to take my advice. Make the most of it, leave your mark, and don't let them forget you.
But then again, I'm only your big sister, so what do I know?
