Dear High School Senior,

I know right now your days are filled with relatives asking where you are applying and your parents nagging you to start that college application you’ve been dreading. Teachers are telling you to not slack off this year and everyone is saying how fast it will all go by before you can even really have a chance to begin your year. I know you all are excited to be the “big guys” on campus, take your senior class trip and have your senior prom. But before you say how much you wish for this year to be over and how you can’t wait until college, there are a few things you must remember.

First, don’t take for granted the faces that pass you in the school hallways that you have grown up seeing. Soon you will be in a new place with entirely new people and you’ll have to make friends all over again. Except your college friends won’t know your family or where you grew up quite like your friends from home do, so cherish those people.

Second, always make sure your parents know how much you love them. This year may bring about a lot of change and nostalgia for you but it also brings the same feelings for your parents. Don’t skip family dinners and never say no to a hug from mom because when you pack up your things and move states away, all you will want is that hug.

Lastly, appreciate every moment. This year is going to be a whirlwind of applications, acceptances and most importantly lasts. You may be counting down the days until you can walk across the stage and receive that diploma you’ve worked so hard for, but never wish for this year to just pass you by. Appreciate the nights when you can just go for drives with your friends. Appreciates the afternoons when you can come home and cry to your mom because you are “so stressed out". Appreciate the times when you can just go into your childhood room and shut the world out for a minute.

So when you walk down your familiar hallways, sit next to your best friends you’ve grown up with in math and then go home to have a nice family dinner, don’t forget to appreciate it. Make memories that will last a lifetime so that when your anticipated graduation day finally arrives, you can move your tassel with ease knowing you made every moment of your senior year count.

From,