If you're reading this, congratulations! You have almost completed all of the requirements necessary to obtain your diploma from the high school that has given you some of your greatest memories thus far.
Hopefully you've met some truly awesome people that have made a serious impact on who you are today. I know not everything has been perfect and there are probably quite a few memories you'd like to erase. Like that outfit you wore the first day of school. Or that hideous haircut you thought would look bangin' but just left you looking like the newest member of The Beatles. Or the first real fight you had with your BFF. Let's not forget the first boy that broke your heart, because no one can forget that. Through all of the seriously rough times you have had some seriously great ones and the people that you surrounded yourself with probably had something to do with that.
Unfortunately, once you walk across that stage everything will change. This means your friendships will too. No, that doesn't mean that you won't still Snapchat to keep that streak alive or like their Instagram post about their new dorm and roommate. Things will just be different. You'll find that the most important things in your life are no longer who wore what and who's dating who. Your life will change so much once you step onto that college campus as an actual student that your high school friendships will fade for a minute because you'll be so overwhelmed with possibility and the future. You're going to make new friends that will help you feel not so homesick. They'll hopefully make your transition much easier and be there to struggle with you as you find all of the shortcuts and cool hang outs around campus.
Speaking of hang outs, please, don't make your freshman year the year to see how much alcohol you can ingest. I promise you it won't end well for you or your grades. Use this year as the time to find out who you are as a person. Don't compromise who you are and what you believe in in order to fit in with who you think is part of the "cool crowd" because in college that crowd doesn't matter. The cool crowd is the group of people that care about you and how you are doing, not what you wear or drive. This includes giving up all that you have for a boy that probably does not and will not respect you just because you're willing to take your clothes off for him. If Taylor Swift has taught us anything it's that if he truly likes you and wants to get to know you, you both can do that with your clothes on. But if you seem to think that you have to let him see the answers to the quiz before he does his homework, just be safe.
I want you to know that everyone in your corner is so incredibly proud of you for where you are right now in your life. You are a beautiful young woman that has so much going for her and has so much ahead of her. If high school wasn't all you expected it to be or there are so many things you just want to forget about and leave behind then just wait. You are going to do so many great things in your life and college is just the beginning. It might not seem like it right now but your entire life is about to change for the better, and it starts the second you move that tassel to the other side of your hat.
