Dear seniors,

We all know the high school has its fair share of ups and downs. Every student walks through those doors the first day of their freshman year and can’t wait for everything high school has in store for them. Then how come by the time those same students arrive their first day of senior year, everyone begins the countdown to graduation?

I was one of those seniors. I was ready for parties, friends and fun. I looked forward to senior breakfasts, senior skip day, and senior privileges. Basically anything with the word senior in front of it. We were all so ready to graduate, go to college, and become adults. But none of us were truly prepared.

Your senior year of high school will be one of the most memorable years of your life. It will be full of amazing memories, heartbreak, excitement, anticipation and accomplishment.

In my opinion, the worst thing you can do is wish away your last year of high school.

Cherish everything about high school, because before you know it, it will be over. The fact that you’re almost done with something that has been a key component of your life for the past 12 years never seems real. Walking out of the stadium the night after your last high school football game, or walking off the court for the last time as a student-athlete. It never seems real. It always feels like there will be a next time because up until this point, there always had been. But every good thing must end eventually.

I promise it won’t hit you after your last homecoming dance. High school will still seem to never end after midterms or finals. You won’t realize how fast the year has passed as you walk out the doors after senior prom. Even as you walk across that stage and throw your caps in the air knowing it's all over, it still doesn’t feel like the end.

Honestly, it may not even hit you while you hold back the tears, hugging your friends as they pack up the car to leave your hometown behind. The truth is, it will hit you when you least expect it. In the middle of all the laughs and excitement at your new home, with all your new friends it will finally hit you. High school is never coming back. That is when you finally realize there are people you will probably never see again, important teachers and staff that you wish you had thanked, and memories you will wish you had made. You realize that you are now an alumni, you’re just a distant memory of a place that provided you with almost everything you know.

So high school seniors, take a look around you, take advantage of all the things your high school has to offer. Tell your friends how much they mean to you. Thank that teacher that has been getting on your nerves for caring and making sure you passed. Without them, your high school career would have never been the same. Make the most of the time you have left. I promise you will not regret it.

So, to every high school senior, don’t force graduation upon yourselves, because the day it does come, will be too soon.

Sincerely,

A college freshman