Whether you graduated high school ten or more years ago, or maybe you are about to put that cap on in the next few weeks, you may not know what you are leaving behind. You start to get the realization when you're packing up all your belongings in boxes you may have gotten from the local convenient store. The feeling you get as you hugged the people you spent every minute of the last four years with extra tight and tried to convince them that nothing would change. You start to see what's ahead as you turned your keys, got into your jam-packed little car and drove away from the place that was home. You start thinking to yourself "This is going to be it, so much freedom, a new start to life." You leave a lot behind, but it's not always bad.

1. Friends you thought would be in your life forever.

You know, the ones you did everything with. Graduating is almost like a reality check. We are all going our separate ways, not knowing what we're doing, but knowing this is what we want for the time being. You talk to your friends the first few months, including Snapchat, FaceTime, Skype, and of course texting. But one day...it just stops. You talk to everyone now and then, nothing like high school though. It's almost like you turn into acquaintances, instead of good friends. Although, maybe you get lucky. You may still talk to your group and catch up when you are home, maybe even ask them how they're doing on this independent life we all live now. Moving away from your friends is one of the hardest things about graduating. They were there with you for everything, and now we all have different friends and lives. It's just a part of the new chapter.

2. Your family.

Oh the tears you deal with, especially from your mom. In high school, I don't think we really noticed what our family may have done for us. They were on our case for late homework assignments, scolding us when we got in trouble in school, driving to every single sporting event just to support us...I could go on and on. To be honest, I think I regret not giving my parents especially, enough props for getting me to where I am now.

When you leave, you realize how respectful you are, your morals really show in a group of new people, and you also get a whole new respect for your education or job. That's all because of how you were raised, so if you haven't in awhile, give your folks a call just to say thanks and a heart felt "I love you."

You learn that your parents and siblings are just a quick phone call away. You feel closer with them. Always needing advice and knowing they're the quickest not to judge. To be honest, they don't sugarcoat things like your friends might. Family is always going to be there, but when you leave, you gain a whole new respect and you're so thankful for them getting you to where you are now. It's always hard leaving, but they're there with you forever.

3. Easy living.

You have bills. You have assignments. You have rent to pay. You have a late shift to work. It's no longer easy. You learn that it's no longer going to be easy and as fun as it was in high school. You have responsibilities to a greater extent than turning in a paragraph of a chapter of a book you had to read in a week. You now owe the college money, you don't have parents paying for everything (if you do, disregard half of this paragraph, and good for you), you have to pay for your own gas, and no longer have your mom buying groceries for you every week. The last name no longer matters when you move on, no one cares about how amazing of a student or athlete you were in high school. It's a part of life. No, you didn't learn about how to pay taxes or how to cite the exact in text citation for your research essay, and that is OK. You will panic, maybe even cry a little, but it will all be OK. Even though high school was the easiest part of life, you will be glad you left it. You now get to learn how to live the "adult life". You won't master it right after you graduate, but you start feeling way good when you're killing it at whatever you do, and you start to become the adult your parents raised you to be.

4. Live rich, live large.
We measure our worth in many ways and money is just one of them. Fall in love deeply, not half-heartedly. Tell your family and close friends how much they mean to you — every day. Cherish, show gratitude, appreciate. Make yourself a happy life, because if you don’t, no one else will do it for you. Buddha said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” We have the ability to do whatever we want and we can make ourselves anything we want to be. You learn to just do it, with no regret. You leave any second thought behind you, do whatever makes you happy, and you will be living the life you've always wanted. Of course there will be rules, but know anything you do has a lesson or consequence. You will learn as you go.

5. Leave your baggage behind.

There is no point in entering the next phase of your life with a lot of baggage that holds you back. Leave what happened in the past in the past, and move into your next chapter free of emotional chains. If you need to do work on yourself, now is a great time to do it. Graduations are a natural conclusion to your education. Move on with an open heart and a fresh slate. You're starting a whole new life, don't worry about the past. You will do amazing and this new chapter is refreshing. No one needs to know about your past, that's why it's the past. Appreciate this new time and find yourself. That's what it's all about.

"You don’t have to decide what you want to be for the rest of your life. You just have to decide what general direction you want to take and what you want to do for your first step. When you look back on your life it will seem linear and logical, but while you are going through it it’s all haphazard and serendipity. And that’s the fun of it."