The first day of senior year I woke up with a feeling different from my first day anxiousness. It was a weird feeling, like I was sad, nervous, excited, and happy all in one. Today was my last first day of school. The last time I would hug my friends after a summer apart, the last time I would walk into a new class for the first time, and the last time I would get the classic welcome back speech from all of my teachers. It was my last year with teachers who have seen me struggle and succeed since freshmen year. The senior ladies met on the football field at 10 that humid September morning to take matching pictures of our "SEE YA LATER, ALL1GA7OR" shirts we had made over the summer. We complained about the heat and made weird faces while squinting into the sun. We took pictures of all of us together, and friends took pictures with each other after that. The amount of Starbucks coffee cups I saw made me laugh, everyone needed their coffee before facing a full day of school.
The first few weeks went by faster than I ever could have imagined, and in the short time I've been a senior, I've realized a few things I wanted to share. Over the summer I had a moment of realization that in a year, I would be packing up all my stuff for college. I had a year left with all the people I had known since I moved here in third grade. Something about that fact made me feel the need to write five pages about things I've done in high school and things I wish I would have done but didn't. I sent it to some of my close friends and I decided I would write an actual article on it to share it with anyone who wants to read it.
Go to a football game, even if you don't like the sport. I don't understand football, I never have. If you asked me to tell you what a blitz is I honestly couldn't tell you, but that hasn't stopped me from going to almost every game in my four years of high school. Football games are a chance to dress up for black outs, white outs and whatever crazy themes your school can come up with. They're a chance to catch up with friends and maybe talk to someone you've never met before. Go to homecoming despite the tacky decorations and stereotypical pop music. Take the opportunity to get dressed up and go to dinner with your friends or order pizza and pig out until the twenty minutes before the dance starts. Speaking from experience, both are equally as fun.
Do things you know you'll remember in college. Drive that extra block around your house to finish the song you love so much. Have fun and laugh with your friends, take ugly pictures and send them to everyone and play loud music when you get ready in the morning. Compliment people daily and tell your friends and family you love them. Go out and make memories, do dumb things with your friends that you can bring up in five years and still laugh about.
Don't pass up an opportunity to do something, whether it's something amazing and a once-in-a-lifetime situation or something as simple as getting lunch with a friend. Do it because as soon as you were a freshmen getting lost in the hallways of your brand new school and cheering at your first pep rally, you'll be a senior walking across the the floor to get your diploma. As your senior year comes closer and closer to ending, you'll remember your first and last football game, your first and last homecoming. You'll remember your last first day of school and the people that made your memories of high school so incredible. High school is a crazy four years for everyone. Make the best of yours.
