Dear Seniors,
It's about that time to do the thing you have feared for four years, or maybe five if you did a victory lap -- graduation. I am sure people have been tiptoeing around saying the forbidden word for a couple of months now, but you know it's coming, we all do, and it completely and totally sucks.
For the past four years, it's like we have been living in this completely different world. A world where you can do whatever you want (mostly), laugh too much at your dumb mistakes, love fearlessly, and make friends that you know you cannot live without. For someone who is not a senior, I can only imagine what it's like knowing you have to leave this perfect college bubble, where you are safe, and where the real world cannot touch you. So, first, cheers to you all about to enter the real world.
Second, don't think for a minute that your friends won't miss you; we will. Don't wonder whether people will forget about you, because we won't. There are too many inside jokes to forget, too many drinks you cannot take back, and too many lessons we have learned from you. I know nothing about job searching, or what it's like to have to completely start over, but you will be okay -- which I'm sure is what everyone has been telling you the past couple of months.
You are in such a unique place where you have the opportunity to start over, be exactly who you want to be, and have all of these amazing experiences in a world not surrounded by tests every week, making appointments with academic advisors, or wondering if you should change your major -- again. You have the opportunity to live life to its full capacity. There will be bumps along the road, maybe a late payment, a fight with a coworker, confusion in a new city, losing friends, broken relationships or a couple mental breakdowns, but it's going to be just fine. Don't focus on what you are scared to do, but what you get to do. There is a whole world out there that you get to explore and have the complete freedom to do so.
So here is my advice. Try new things, eat delicious food, love fearlessly, explore what you can, and most importantly have faith and confidence in yourself. We cannot wait to see what you achieve.
Love,
Those who will miss you