By now, there is probably no shortage of anticipation, excitement, wonder and maybe even fear about your future. If you're headed to college, joining the workforce or taking a gap year, it's safe to assume that your life will change. You're bound to make new friends, fall out of touch with old ones, live on your own and maybe move hundreds or thousands of miles away. No matter how you feel about your future and what it may contain, take the time to step back and focus on the here and now.
The last few months of high school definitely have the potential to be the most fulfilling and formative time of young adulthood. It's during this time that you can relax and go on a (little) "senior slide," and it's during these few months that you can enjoy free time with friends and family without worrying about college applications or SATs and ACTs.
At the very end of your childhood and high school career, it's perfectly okay to take some time for yourself and your friends instead of stressing out about school, because the memories you make now will stick with you for years and years to come, and no one ever wishes they'd spent more time yearning and planning for the future instead of being with the people they love and doing what they enjoy, whether that be playing a final season of a sport, performing in the school play, or just vegging out with a favorite book or TV show.
There's no denying that the future holds so much promise and potential, and as young people we are so prone to living in the future and forgetting to enjoy the moments we're in right now. It might sound ridiculous at the moment, but there are things you're bound to miss about high school: the spontaneous late-night food runs with friends, the bus rides back from games and tournaments with your teammates, seeing people whose names and faces you know in the hallway every day, and of course the comforts of your parents and family. Cherish these wonderful aspects of home life a little while longer.
The future is awesome and college gives you so much to be excited about, there's no doubt about that. What makes the future even more awesome is the memories of childhood and even high school that we can think back on fondly. Welcome to the beginning of the end of childhood and to the best part of your young adult life.
