Dear High School Senior Self,

My gosh, look how far we've come. It seems like it was a century ago that you started your senior year of high school with all the stress and anticipation for the following year. And almost a whole four years later you're about to do it again. You counted down the days from the first day of school to Halloween, to winter break, to reading acceptance letter and picking a school, to waltzing away to prom and decorating your cap, to walking proudly across that graduation stage. And it hasn't been easy since your first day as a college student, but here we are getting ready to grace another stage.

Sure, you changed your major 5 times and sure you spent most of your time debating on whether or not this was really all going to be worth it. You spent hours upon hours of studying for exams you didn't do your best on, you spent most of you college experience with your nose in some work. Sure, these years have felt impossible and you've felt alone through the journey. You fell on your face more than once, and you've had to deal with some heartache in between all that. But now we're almost at the end. I'm here to tell you it's okay.

It's okay that no one talked to you about the future, it's okay you went in blind. It's okay you're up to your eyes in debt, it's okay that you couldn't find your path right away, and you didn't success from the beginning. It's okay that you spent nights crying about the future because it was getting stressful, it's okay that you skipped class for a break. It's okay you didn't love your school as much as you thought you would. It's okay that you've spent a lot of this time working on yourself. It's okay that no one really noticed how much you were achieving. It's okay that you felt lost. It's okay you didn't find Prince Charming on your campus like everyone told you. It's all really okay.

You know why? You made it. You're almost there and that's something to be proud of. And this is not the last stop. I know where you're meant to go, I know what you're meant to do. I know how you'll get to where you need to be, even if you feel like you're not going the right way. I know how scared you are, even if you don't want to admit it. You're petrified but don't worry, because I know what's waiting for you. And let me tell you, you're headed for some pretty amazing things. There were people who doubted you from the start. You know they expected you to fail. There were people who looked over your enormous journey because you didn't complain, there were family members looking over it simply because of how you were raised, there were even people belittling you. But you're about to prove them wrong. You doubted us, and we're about to prove ourselves wrong, too.

So take a breath. Stay focused, don't lose sight of the goal, and always remember your favorite proverb.

With much self-love and wisdom,

Your College Senior Self.