Dear Soon-to-Be Graduate,
I understand that life may seem extremely stressful, confusing and draining at this point, but just hear me out. Even though you have your mindset on graduating and are counting down the days, don’t forget all the people and experiences you will be graduating from. When I was a senior in high school, I could not wait to graduate and move on with my life. I was excited to move away to college, make new friends, become independent and begin a new chapter of my life. I was tired of the high school drama, and I thought living with my parents was the most annoying thing ever. I had a countdown to graduation day, and that day couldn’t come fast enough. If I had a dollar for every time I told my family or friends, “I literally cannot wait to graduate,” my college tuition would be paid for. I was so caught up in the superficial aspects of high school life; I was tired of it, and I just wanted to move on. Graduation day was the second best day compared to move in day, and I thought I would never, ever miss my high school days. I was wrong.
Now as a sophomore in college, I miss everything about high school. I miss my best friends, who now go to schools all over the east coast. I miss how easy my classes were, even though I remember talking about how annoying and pointless they were two years ago. I miss the excitement of prom season, obsessing over everyone’s dress and the prom pictures the week after. I most especially miss my parents. Even though I love living away from home and living with friends, I never realized how much I took for granted while living at home. I was able to eat an unlimited amount of food (that I didn’t have to pay for), and I didn’t have any “adult” responsibilities. I miss the company of my parents, even though I found them to be absolutely annoying when I lived at home, and I actually look forward to summer and winter breaks where I can go home and spend time with them. I took all of those experiences for granted, and now I wish I didn’t. I wish I could go back and relive those days because I miss them so much. I miss seeing my best friends every day at school and coming home and spending quality time with my parents. I miss the easy assignments and all of the excitement of high school events. I would do anything to go back and relive those experiences all over again.
As graduation is quickly approaching and I hear my senior friends talk about how much they can’t wait to graduate, I just think about how I feel about my senior year of high school. Seniors, this is for you. I know you have been dealing with college longer than I have, but I also know you are going to miss it so much. Besides, college is supposed to be the best four years of your life. You live with your best friends, and you have the freedom to do whatever you want. You are at the happy medium in life where you are considered an adult but you aren’t fully living in the “real world.” Yes, classes can be extremely annoying and stressful, and sometimes the people can drive you absolutely insane; that isn’t what college is about. It’s about getting a higher education to succeed after graduation, making friends that will last a lifetime and spending time while creating memories with those who mean the most to you.
In just a few short months, you will be off in the real world, and you will be in the real world for the rest of your life. You will have the rest of your life to find a job and live in the “real world," but you only have a short time left in college. After graduation, you will be going your separate ways, and you may never see some of your peers ever again. You will not be able to create the same memories you can create in college, and that is something you should not take for granted. I know how easy it is to get caught up in the moment, but I’m asking you to look at the bigger picture. Think about what and who you’ve enjoyed most during your college journey and hold onto that, and them, for as long as possible. Before you know it, you will be able to graduate and move on, but so will everyone else. Just like when graduating from high school, you will be graduating from people and experiences. It is so easy to be annoyed with it all now, but years from now you are going to look back and wish you could come back and relive it all over again. Do not take for granted the current memories you are making with the people who mean the most to you because soon everything will change.
Even though you will graduate and move on to greater things, you will look back and wish you could experience your senior year one last time. Especially because you are graduating into the real world, you will look back and think, “Wow, it actually really wasn’t as stressful as I thought.” Life moves faster than we think, so don’t blink. You will be presented with new experiences and new challenges, but it will not compare to your current experiences and challenges. Enjoy your friends, your job and your classes, and learn from your mistakes. College teaches you more than the information in your major; it teaches you who you really are as a person and what you enjoy most in life.
Don’t rush life because it already goes by so fast. Embrace what you have now because it will not be here forever. I promise graduation will come soon enough, so for right now, relax and enjoy yourself. I’m extremely proud of you for getting to this point in your life, and just know everything is going to work out the way it’s supposed to. Don’t stress, live in the moment, do what you love and make memories. You will thank yourself later.
