Dear Class Of 2017,

I don't know if you can believe this, but you only have 1 semester left before you put on your cap and gown, and walk across the stage to receive your diploma. I vividly remember those innocent days of my senior year, flying past me faster than I ever could have realized. It was a year of many lasts. It was the last year of friday night football games, band and choir concerts, late night jewel runs, and maybe most importantly, my last year with all of the great friends that I grew up with. I was feeling what you are most likely feeling at this exact moment as you are reading this; You CANNOT WAIT to leave. You are sick and tired of waking up early, you are sick and tired of having the same classes day after day after day, sick of the drama, and sick of being bossed around by your teachers when you're old enough to make your own decisions. Trust me, I've been there. But I'm telling you right now, you're going to miss it.

I remember telling anybody who would listen how much I couldn't wait to leave. I wanted to finish high school, get my diploma, wait out the 3 months that followed, and finally get the hell out of my hometown. I had grown so accustomed to doing the same song and dance day after day. I'd wake up, shower, grab my morning coffee, and drive off to school, with Green Day blaring through my speakers at full volume to wake me up. Then, I'd move from class to class for the next 8 hours, becoming more and more disinterested as the day wore on. I was going through the same emotions that almost every high school senior encounters. But the thing is, I realized that senior year is also the best year of high school by far. I realized that this was the year that I made the most memories, met the best people, and really opened up and embraced myself. My senior year was truly some of the happiest days that I can recall in my life thus far. Class of 2017, as your childhood is rapidly coming to a close, my advice to you is simple; Open your heart.

Open your heart to new experiences. Talk to people you wouldn't normally talk to. Go to every sports game you can. Go out on a friday night. Ask out that cute girl in your english class. Go to that last school dance. Go out of your way to do something nice for someone. Try not to care what people think of you, just be who you are. Tell your family you love them a little more often, because they love you more than you could ever know. When I tell you to open your heart, I'm telling you to embrace everything in your life over these final days. Do it, because these are days that you will never get back. Once you walk across that stage, it's over. What's done is done, and you can't go back.

Be who you truly are because once you walk across that stage, None of it will matter anymore. All of those people who you thought were your friends but they talked behind your back? Irrelevant. The heartbreak from freshman year you just couldn't seem to get over? Done. That really embarrassing rumor that went around about you? over and done with. The truth is, once everybody graduates, everybody is equal in the eyes of that moment. The quarterback of the football team is equal to the introverted kid who always sat in the back of the class and never said a word. For it is in that moment, and for eternity that follows, that the so-called "social hierarchy" evaporates and everybody is equal in the eyes of the universe.

Believe it or not, there will be a time when you will no longer be able to rely on the comfort of those walls that you've grown so used to being encapsulated in. Once high school ends, it only becomes more stressful from here on out. You will most likely either be headed to college, or straight to the work force. Your high school friends will all be split up in different places, and will not see each other nearly as much. Your best friend who lived just 5 minutes down the road could be all the way across the country. High School is truly the most innocent of times. You are not young forever, so you have to live it up while you can, so you have an assortment of happy memories to look back on in time.

Class of 2017, you are now headed towards the home stretch. As you start your last semester of high school, I hope you're going in with an open heart, and an open mind. Know that your best days are still ahead of you, but these days are truly ones to look back on. I would give anything to experience my last semester of high school just one more time. Remember to be appreciative of each and every moment you get, because you will almost certainly miss it when it's gone.

I can tell you that graduation day will be one of the most unforgettable days of your life. I can also tell you that it will be one of the most surreal. I remember sitting in my chair at graduation feeling like I was in a dream, as it was at that moment that I realized how fast those 4 years actually go by. You will be in denial that it's your turn to graduate, and that it is your time to stroll off into the sunset of forever. You think high school will never end, but then you suddenly realize that one chapter of your life is coming to an end, and a new one is just beginning. You all should be excited for the opportunities that await you as you enter adulthood, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make the most of your final days of childhood. Here is to your final semester, Class of 2017, the torch has now been passed on to you. Let the fire burn ever so bright, and make the most of this special time, before it is your turn to pass it on to the next graduating class. I sincerely hope your final semester is something that you will make the most of.

Always,

A 2016 High School Grad