To the graduating high school senior,
Two months.
You only have two months left until you walk through those glass doors for the last time. It will be the last day you will be surrounded by the friends you have known since you were in preschool. Soon, you will experience your last sports practice, your last high school dance, your last calculus exam. Trust me when I say these last couple of months will fly by.
You have two months left, but months will turn into weeks, weeks to days, days to hours, hours to minutes, and then you will be walking across the stage to receive your diploma, and this big event you have spent the majority of your life pursuing will be over in a matter of seconds.
You will walk down the staircase and gaze at the classmates you have grown up with your entire life, realizing you will probably never see most of them again after August when everybody goes their separate ways. It hurts to think soon all these moments will start coming to an end, but you must celebrate. The countless hours of worksheets, papers, presentations, and exams have all led up to this very moment. YOU MADE IT!
I know you guys are all waiting for the last day you will walk through those doors. I know you are waiting for the last bell of your high school career. Stop dwelling on the anticipation of the future. Start taking advantage of these present moments, even if they seem insignificant. The little things are what I miss the most--the passing time between classes, the morning routines, the lunch table conversations. All of these things seem unimportant, but you will never appreciate them until they are no longer there.
I know you are looking forward to all of these approaching events--freshman orientation, moving away from home, living alone, the college experience--but do not forget what you are leaving behind. Your last homecoming week has already passed. You will never sit in the stands for a Friday night football game again in the same way. You will leave behind the house where you grew up, the tire swing in your backyard. Your parents, siblings, and pets will no longer be down the hall. Live life fully in these last few months. I know you are looking forward to the future, but your life after high school will never be the same again. Do not forget what you will be leaving behind.
Before you know it, five months until move-in day will turn into five weeks, five days, five hours, and then you'll be moved into your freshman dorm room. Your parents will pull away, and your life perspective will turn from comfortable to extremely unfamiliar. It will be scary. It will be intimidating, but it will be the beginning of the best four years of your life.
