Being a high school senior is so much more stressful than people warn you about. Between college applications, applying for scholarships, deciding where you're going to college, studying and taking the ACT or SAT's, buying senior t-shirts, trying to soak in the last few weeks of 'being a kid' and spending time with your friends before everyone splits up and goes all different directions, all of this while trying to pass your classes and keep that 4.0 GPA.
No one likes change and you're about to be hit with a whole lot of change all at one time. It's scary and no one can prepare for what's about to come, and sometimes it takes all you can to hold it all together. It's been almost a year since I graduated high school and I look back and laugh at all the times that I was stressed, overwhelmed and on the verge of a mental breakdown because everything that I was stressed about worked out in the end.
If I could go back and talk to myself a year ago, Here is what I would say:
Don't sweat the small stuff. Things are going to work out. With that being said, don't wait until the last minute to write the essay that is due the next morning. Take all the steps in advance to eliminate stress, but don't overstress yourself.
Don't let your high school teachers scare you. All of my teachers would tell me scary things about college and how hard it was which would stress me out even more. College can be scary and hard, but nowhere near what my high school teachers lead me to believe.
Keep some friends from high school.
It's good to have friends from college, but your high school friends are going to keep you grounded and remind you where you came from and where your roots are.
Live in the moment. It's ok to be excited about events coming up in the future, but don't wish the days away. I promise, one day you're going to miss the free days in choir class and the quiet hallways.
Your hard work is going to pay off. Don't overthink things. Have an open mind and an open heart for the things you will experience and people you will meet. Never forget where your roots are — but don't lose sight of where you're going.
"So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see will last forever." — 1 Corinthians 4:16-18