High school, four crazy years have come and gone. Graduation day surrounded by your friends and family, over with. Early mornings and late nights spent at your classmate's graduation parties, checked off the list.

The summer after graduation is the best summer experience, in my opinion, of your life thus far. You have finally discovered some of your lifelong best friends. You are graduated, and feeling free. Making the best of this summer is the only real obligation you and your friends have. You are all turning into the young adults you have been striving to become for the past four years.

Dorm room shopping, beach days, weekend trips up north, bonfires, jam sessions on destinationless road trips and half-off apps at Applebees after working a long shift are just some of the things that your friends take part in with you. In these simple moments you don't realize that you are making lifelong memories, but by the end of the summer those sleepless nights are the ones you will never forget.

Mixed emotions fill those long summer days. Happy and sad tears are shed when you are wrapped in your best friend's arms. While some of you are staying at home, and others are going off to a university far from home, it is bittersweet no matter the circumstances. Going from seeing your friends everyday to only once a month if you are lucky, Friday nights spent at your local applebees or a last minute girls night are all soon to be nonexsistent.

This summer is all about saying goodbye, but that is the last thing you and your friends want to talk about. Conversations about college are avoided at all costs unless you are talking about which campus you are spending welcome weekend, halloween, or birthdays at. It is never goodbye, but more like, see you later.

Whether your friends are still just right around the corner or hours away, things are changing. This summer is the last time things will be the same. The last time that you guys can just simply enjoy each other's company and be carefree. This summer is meant to be a stepping stone into the rest of your lives. It is so exciting and nerve racking all at the same time. As summer comes to a close, you are anxious to meet new people and see what not only your future brings, but also your friend's as well.

Here's to the rest of our lives, or at least the next four years!