High school isn't for everyone. Plain and simple.

I think I've seen probably five million articles saying the exact same thing: "Don't take high school for granted! Cherish your five million friends! Go to all the games!" But what if you're the student who prefers to have fewer friends and chooses to stay in on a Friday night? Or what if you're someone who just doesn't enjoy high school? Or just an introvert? For the incoming high school seniors and the seniors already chugging through, I have some real pieces of advice.

1. Just get through it

If you don't like high school and you are more ready to graduate than you are to eat lunch in a few like I was, just get through it. Persevere, walk across the stage, and get your diploma. After the fact, that will be the only thing that matters besides your transcript. Besides, the only people I've kept up with either came with me to college or were more significant than the average school acquaintance to forget or stop hanging out with. High school will zoom by, anyways, it's only four years.

2. Don't strive for a certain group of friends

If you have to strive for them, they aren't worth it anyways. Find people that you naturally fit with. The people I left high school still cherishing I had met in the most random places: a seventh grade chorus concert, a freshman year theater class and even track try-outs. I didn't meet any of my long-term friends at parties or clubs.

3. Make your grades count

That is what you will care about most (besides the constant money issue) during college. Get the grades, get the scholarships and get the great opportunities. Scholarships are the only way to survive through college, believe me.

I have friends getting by in the most extreme ways because they didn't get the grades. Make sure you focus on what's important. High school isn't forever.

4. Don't make high school the highlight of your life

I can think of numerous people who were great students all the way up until high school. That's when they started focusing on reputation and sports more than grades and their future and ultimately sealed their fates withholding job positions that were much less advanced than they had dreamed of acquiring. Sports are great and you should get involved, but sports should never be a priority over your grades, especially if you hope to go to college.

5. You don't have to go to college

Just like high school, college isn't for everyone either. Going straight into the work-force or choosing a shorter education path may suit you better. Don't let high school counselors convince you to do something that you don't actually want to do. It's your life. Keep in mind that some of the things they say are only because they're supposed to say them.

6. Enjoy it

You can still have fun in high school without having the best reputation, popularity level or amount of friends. When I first started high school, I had so many friends, but by the end, I knew who I fit in with and who I didn't. I reunited with a few people I had lost and found a few others that may be in my life for decades.

You may not miss some of the people, but you will miss some of the staff. I will always miss Miss Tina, who served me lunch for eleven years, my assistant principal who was so small and sweet but so stern when she needed to be that even the football players couldn't disobey her. I miss some teachers who were the best I ever had and who gave me hope about certain subjects that I thought I would struggle forever with.

You may not miss some of your peers, but you will be aching for your Spanish teachers and your AP English teacher that you went on that nine day trip with to another country, who treated you like their own and made sure you were safe each night that you returned to the hotel. Enjoy and cherish those teachers while you can, and tell them you appreciate them as often as possible.

No matter if high school isn't your thing, or is, still try to remember that you do have a life outside of and beyond high school. It can be a fun four years no matter your status. It's your time to find your best fit, find a sense of style, plan out your career goals, and find people to go through the next part of your life with you afterwards, and even then some.

Just get through it, because it does zoom by fast, and before you know it, you'll be making eye contact and giggling with your assistant principal that you've known for years from across the stage as you try your hardest to make it up the stairs and across the stage in your new stilettos. Watching you struggle may even save her from crying as she watches her school children leave her nest.

Everything you've experienced during those four years will be all over, and you'll be grabbing that important piece of paper from your school administrator's hand that permits you to carry on with the future you've been planning.

During high school, I hated it and wanted it to be over as fast as possible, but now I reminisce and wish that my professors were just like my high school teachers that made such an impact on my life. I promise, it will all be worth it.