Dear upcoming high school senior-

We've heard it all our lives. Senior year is supposed to be the best year of your life. You're almost an adult, your schedule is easy, and you run the school. But what about the ones who care about more than that? For some of us, high school hasn't been easy. Whether it's been realizing that you may not always be the smartest in the class, or that you won't get along with every teacher, or even that the mean girls you dealt with in middle school have now become more vicious than ever. The years may have been rough, but there was one thought that kept us going: someday, I'll be out of here.

And now we're finally here, at the moment we've been waiting for. You've gotten your senior class schedule, you've scheduled your senior pictures, and colleges have opened up applications. And just like that, all at once, the possibilities become immensely bigger than the tiny school hallways you've always known. You can't wait to escape those hallways, but now that it's finally here, and the end is in sight, it all seems a little scarier. What was once a motivation now turns into a thought that keeps you up at night.

What if I'm wrong, and I don't like living in a city? What if I'm not like the other students at the university I choose to attend? How am I going to live without seeing my mom everyday? How am I going to handle being 2,000 miles away from my best friend? What if I miss my dogs too much?

What if I end up missing the place I couldn't wait to leave?

These thoughts are terrifying, but there's only one way that you'll ever know the answer to them - go for it. Apply to that school 4 states away; you may end up loving it. Tell your mom every day how much you appreciate her, in person; some day, soon, you might not always have the chance. Go to that movie with your best friend; you don't know how long you might have to be away from her. Cherish your senior year; it's your last one.

But don't let the doubts and the fears hold you back. You wanted to leave this place for a reason, and you just have to remember why. After all, do you want to be the person who never took a chance and is stuck in the same place their whole life?

Or do you want to be the girl who may have been terrified - but decided to go for it anyways?