Dear high school seniors,
You will be graduating soon, and you are probably already done with classes. You are just a few days away from completing the first step to the rest of your life.
Soon you will be getting that diploma, having a huge graduation party, and then getting ready for college. I just have a few words of advice for the next few months of your life leading up to your freshman year of college.
Spend time with your friends.
You may not know it yet, but some of your current friends will remain your best friends for a very long time. You also may not know that you probably won't see some of them ever again. Regardless of the situation, make sure you spend time with them while you can. You will regret it if you just blow off your friends senior year.
Go to prom with your friends.
Prom is one of the biggest parts of senior year. I know I was looking forward to prom since I started ninth grade because it is such a big deal. There is the promposal, then picking out the dress, the flowers, the shoes and so on. For guys, there tends to be a lot less work, but I know all my guy friends were almost as excited about prom as I was.
The date you bring is made out to be one of the most important parts of prom, but it shouldn't be. Go to prom with your friends. Take a date if you want to, but make sure you spend prom with your friends too. Don't ignore them on the biggest night of your life thus far, just for your date. Prom is something you should experience with your best friends.
Take lots of pictures.
Whether it be at prom, graduation, or just the last day of finals, make sure you take pictures. I know people don't want to live behind the camera, but as you get older you start to forget some of these moments. Having pictures is a great way to remind you of all your friends and all the fun you had senior year. Also, what else would you decorate your dorm room with?
Spend time with your family.
In just a few months, you will be moving away. It won't be forever, and you will come home for breaks, but you still won't be seeing your family every day. Make sure you spend lots of time with your siblings and parents, but also don't forget about the more distant relatives. Go to brunch with your grandparents. Hang out with your aunts, uncles, cousins, and everyone else. Make sure they know you care, and like your friends, spend time with them while you still can.
Pick a random roommate for college.
One of the hardest parts about freshman year of college is living with another person. You will be in a tiny room together surrounded by piles of your stuff for several months. I know it sounds like a good idea to room with your best friend from high school, but it isn't.
Get a random roommate or someone you are not best friends with. That way, it will be easier to set rules and boundaries. Also, you will make new friends very quickly rather than just only having friends you already had.
Another thing is to remember what I said before about your high school friendships. Some of them may not last, so by not rooming with your best friend from high school, you aren't stuck living with someone you may grow apart from.
Major in what you love, not what makes you money.
A lot of people go to college to make money, but that isn't really the point. Try to find something you love that you can have a career in. If you love music, pursue that. There are tons of opportunities out there, just make sure you find them along the way. There are tons of people out there to help you with just that, so use them.
Be open to change.
You will change a lot in college. You may not change drastically, but you will be very different from when you started. You will begin to realize what is really important in your life and you will focus on that.
As you grow up, you have less time to do more things, it seems. You will need to cut out activities that you don't care for as much, and even friendships that just aren't worth your time, and that's OK. You will find the balance, just be open to changing some things around.
Lastly, have fun.
Senior Year is super fun and so is college. Things will be different now that you are grown up and you are planning out the rest of your life, but you will have a good time. You will make new friends at school and get to learn how to do what you love, which is a really exciting thing.
I wish all of you the best of luck in the next few months leading up to college. Some big changes are headed your way, but I promise you will enjoy yourself when you spend time surrounded by people you love, doing what you love.
Sincerely,
A Class of 2014 high school graduate
