June 7th, 2016, I became an official alumni of Coventry High School. That night I had one of those out of body experiences where I thought to myself, "wow this is actually happening," and in what felt like 3 minutes--but was actually 3 hours--later I walked out of the Ryan Center at the University of Rhode Island to greet my family. The summer before college, AKA real life, was about to begin.
My recent teachers had told me that the summer before I went to college was the one that I was supposed to make count the most. They said spend your time and money wisely and don't rush anything, because before you know it it'll be the end of August. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have this experience.
My entire high school social life had revolved around my one group of friends. We had been practically inseparable since the end of seventh grade. We were so close that we kept our favorite foods at each others houses. At the start of 2016 we had a huge falling out and I was left on the outside. I still had some friends that I was able to become extremely close with, but it still didn't feel the same. To this day we aren't friends and it still hurts, because I once called these girls my sisters and it was during the summer that we would spend the most time together. I had always imagined that the summer before college we would all go on spontaneous adventures together and create fun, maybe stupid memories, that one day we would tell our kids.
These memories they still made. Unfortunately they were made with out me. My summer before college consisted of open-ended plans that never became a reality and working 45 hours a week. I made great money and I spent a lot of time with my family, but unfortunately my summer before college turned out to be one big disappointment. I made plans once and saw that friend once and it was two months after graduation. It will probably be the last time I am able to see her before Thanksgiving.
My advice to current seniors: Make every moment you have a great one. Don't rely on the summer before you go to college to make the memories you hope to cherish for the rest of your life. I did that and unfortunately it worked against me. I still had an amazing summer filled with some amazing people, but it definitely wasn't the one I had planned out.
