To any senior in high school,

Your last year of high school will be one of the most bittersweet years of your life. At first, you won’t think much of it. It’s your last first day of school and all you can think to yourself is “When is graduation”? (It comes faster than you think). This will be the last time you’ll ever have to wake up this early for the first day of school. It’s the last time you’ll ever have to pick out that “first day of school outfit” that we all pick out at the very last minute.

Then, before you know it, it’s already football season. This will be the last time you will stand in the student section cheering on your school with your best friends by your side. We all love the football games and especially those half-priced appetizers at Applebee’s after. So maybe you won’t miss the cold, twenty degree nights wishing you were cuddled up near a fire under a blanket. However, you will never again get the feeling you get when your hometown gets a touchdown and wins the game. You won’t experience those moments with the people you grew up with.

In a blink of an eye, it’s already homecoming. Time to wait until the last minute to find that perfect dress or that perfect tie to wow your friends. It’ll be the last time you will get to do your friend’s hair or makeup. It’s the last time you get to take those cute pictures that every parent loves. You especially can’t forget walking all the way to the door in those 5 inch heels praying to God your feet don’t fall off. This will be the last time you can dance like a complete idiot on the dance floor with your best friends. It’s at this point during the year that some things might start to hit you.

Next thing you know, Thanksgiving break comes around and you stuff your face with those mashed potatoes and stuffing you’ve been smelling all day. For some of you, this may be the last Thanksgiving with your family. Some people may decide to go somewhere far from home and can’t afford to come home for every holiday, so cherish your mom’s amazing turkey or that pumpkin pie your grandma brings over because it may be the last.

It’s already half way through the year and we all know what that means... Christmas! You’re excited for that long 2 week break from school because it’s only December and you still have 5 more months left until graduation. You spend all of your days and nights with your friends and family. Sleeping in is probably something you try to do every day since waking up at 6:30 am, five days a week isn’t something you particularly enjoy. Christmas break goes by quickly. Then it’s already January. Then February, March, and April. You now have 2 months until the day you have been waiting for all year. Your anxiety may start to increase or your excitement. Maybe a little bit of both? It’s finally hitting you that you have 2 months left with the people you have gone to school with for 12 years.

May comes around, there's prom and you finally start to realize that this is your last prom with your friends. The last time you will get asked to prom. Then it’s June and you’re already in the month of graduation. In just a few weeks, you’ll be saying goodbye to your favorite teacher or your favorite (old) school cookies. It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for, yet your emotions are probably telling you otherwise.

So this is what I have to tell you. Cherish each and every moment with your friends. Go to every single one of those football games, even if it’s twenty degrees outside and you’re wrapped in six blankets. Go to homecoming and dance like a fool with your best friends. Go to every school event, join as many clubs as possible, spend every moment with the people you love the most because all of those moments you may think last forever, won’t. Sooner or later, you and your best friends will be off to college, possibly in different states and will only get to see them every so often. While you still can, go out, have fun and do everything you want to do before it’s too late. You don’t want to look back in a few years wishing you went to that one school dance or that one basketball game. Once these moments pass, they’re gone for good. These are the memories you’ll want to have for the rest of your life because they will be the best memories. Make them count.

Sincerely,

A freshman in college