Dear high school seniors,
As flurries fill the air and songs of Christmas rewind constantly through your head, you are reminded that 2016 is winding to a close. 2017 is the year you’ve been anticipating your entire life, and your high school diploma will be placed in your hand faster than you know it. I remember being in your shoes exactly one year ago, being both excited and extremely nervous for what was yet to come. I was ready to leave the nest and start my college journey, jumping blindly into what was truly the real world. Today, as I cuddle into my bed at home during Winter Break and scroll through Instagram and Facebook to see what colleges your classmates have chosen, I reflect on my journey from the past year.
I was one of the blessed ones. My transition from high school to college was as smooth as butter. I remember hugging my high school friends goodbye in August, terrified that I would be lonely and friendless for the next 4 years. However, I was quickly thrown into a sea of kind faces that I would undoubtedly connect with and get to soon call my closest comrades. Before I realized it, my dorm room bed was easier to sleep in, it was easy to get used to studying for huge exams, and it was easy meeting new people every single day.
However, everything about moving away from home is not easy.
Here’s my advice to you. To the class of 2017, live each moment like it’s your last. Enter your last semester of high school with a positive mindset. Go to every pep rally. Introduce yourself to people who might not be in your clique. Cherish every laugh that you share with your friends. It’s your senior year of high school, and you are about to enter the biggest change you have experienced in your life. Therefore, make the most of what you have right now. Put down your cell phone and talk to your family during dinner time. Do dorky things like baking cookies and leave the partying for college. There will be plenty of time to try new things and find yourself in the next four years, so take this time to do what you do best: be yourself.
Now, let me share a little secret with you: college is so much better than high school. Therefore, don’t stress. Your first semester of college is the most fun you’ll ever have. You’ll have independence, a new atmosphere, and a group of new people to get to know. You’ll have an entire residence hall of students all looking for new friends, so you will not be alone. You will get to know the people in your hall better than people you’ve known your entire life. So take my advice and don’t worry about the future during your last semester of high school. Take comfort in what you already know and love, and be comforted by the fact that everything will continue to fall into place. Live in the moment and truly enjoy what life throws at you.
Have fun at your high school prom. Take a deep breath and own that stage at graduation. Take lots of pictures, but don’t forget to put the phone down and live in the moment. 2017 is your year. It’ll be the year you look back at and smile because you’ll learn so much about yourself. It’s the most change you’ll ever experience, so don’t get yourself down if things don’t turn out the way you expect them to be. Have courage, be kind, and be adaptable. That’s what growing up is about.
Sincerely,
A college freshman
