This time a year ago, I was getting ready to graduate high school.

I was prepping for my grad party, graduation, baccalaureate and for one last carefree summer.

A year ago, I was in a good place, but now I am in an even better place.

Although a year ago I was in a pretty good place in my life and I don’t regret hardly anything, there are numerous things that I wish I would’ve known.

I wish that I would’ve known how important it was to spend time with my high school friends. I have kept a lot of the same friends, but a lot of the people I got so used to seeing every day, I haven’t seen in months and I wish it wasn’t like that.

I love that I lived in the moment, but I also wish that I would’ve taken more pictures. I have all the memories, but I also love looking back at pictures and seeing how much fun I was having.

I wish that I would’ve prepared myself a little more for those last moments of high school. It was all over so quick, literally in the blink of an eye.

Losing friends isn’t always a loss. I wish that I would’ve known that every friend that I lost wasn’t always a bad thing. I wish that I wouldn’t have held onto toxic friendships for so long. I wish that I would’ve been okay with letting people go.

And, to not care what people thought of me. I didn’t care a whole lot of what people thought of me, but there was still that little bit deep down that cared. Now, I give a single thought to what other people are going to think of me. I truly live life for myself.

To any high school senior, or at whatever stage you are in, take these things and learn from them.

Enjoy those late nights with your BFF's and snap tons of pictures but also make sure to live in the moment and don’t think twice about what anyone thinks of you.