This is an open letter to the current college students who miss high school more and more every day. It seems to hit you the hardest that your high school days are over right before graduation or right after. Summertime rolls around and before you know it, it's August 30th and your first semester of college is about to start. That means no more nine period days with the kids you grew up with or the teachers you claimed to hate. Before you know it, you're sitting in your first class of the semester wishing more than anything that you were back in that high school class with the teacher you "hated." People often have such strong opinions regarding high school and how much they loved or hated it. Maybe I loved it so much because of the high school I was lucky enough to attend. This high school was Farmingdale High School. We were better known as The Dalers, aka "your worst nightmare." Some people find it weird that I love and miss high school so much because I struggled a lot with the work and everything else going on in my life.

Despite everything I had going on, I always had a shoulder to cry on and so many people to support me in anything I did. Throughout my years in school, I have also met teachers who didn't give a care in the world about me; they were just there for the amount of money they received on their check. It hurts to watch all the seniors and underclassmen who are enjoying high school right now, not realizing how hard it'll be to walk away. Going from being in this school everyday with the same people for four years to somehow having to pack up all your luggage and memories from the past four years and start something new is harder than it sounds. I can't speak for other high schools, but Farmingdale always has this vibe in the school that can't help but make you smile even on cold rainy Monday mornings.

Then there's your friends; you've either known them since kindergarten or just met them a year ago. The hardest part is knowing that you will never get to be obnoxiously loud with them while walking to class in those halls ever again. Walking to your friend's locker every morning at 7:10 may not have seemed like a way to start your morning, but now that you're not there standing at her locker and gossiping about stuff seems like the end of the world. It makes you realize that you need to cherish the smallest and maybe the most incredibly annoying things in life. It's funny because as I came up with the title of this article I was with a friend of mine and he saw the title and said "Wow you really miss high school huh?" I said "yeah more than words can explain." Although it hurts to know that my four years have expired at Farmingdale High School, I know how lucky I am too have had such an amazing experience. "Once A Daler, Always A Daler."