In the spirit of graduation season, I want to say something.

I’m a junior in college (which is still SO weird to say), and I can’t even express how much my life has changed since I graduated high school. I’m a totally different person, and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. I was one of those people who couldn’t stand high school—so much so, in fact, that I left a year early, and have never regretted it. I didn’t care about my senior spirit week and homecoming football game. I actually couldn’t have cared less if I tried. That’s not real life to me. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve struggled just like any other college student to adjust to adulthood, but I’ve never looked back.

To the graduating seniors of 2016,

Slow down. Take a breath. In a few months, you’ll be glad you did.

Go into the next couple months/years of your life open to the fact that you probably don’t know anything about anything. Simple as that. And that’s okay. You’re not supposed to yet, and in the next few years, you’ll be set free to figure it all out. That’s what this time is for: making mistakes and learning from them. So chill out, everyone else is just as lost as you are.

Sure, it’s scary. For many of you, your whole life is about to change. Maybe you’re excited to start fresh, or maybe you wish the world would stop spinning for a second so everything would stay as it is. Either way, you have to embrace and love the fact that your life is happening right now.

There are some people who love high school. I never understood why, but they exist. But in the midst of all this crazy whirlwind of changes, realize that graduation might mean a new chapter, but by no means is it the end of the world. For a lot of people, it’s the beginning.

Yes, your friends will change. You’ll lose some who don’t grow at the same rate as you and meet new people you never thought even existed. You choose how to build your world, and it’s scary and exciting all at once, because whether you think you know your shit or not, you’ll have no idea what’s happening 90% of the time. It’s easiest to embrace that and learn to laugh at yourself. Everyone’s in the same boat, anyway, whether or not they’re willing to admit it. So, be afraid. Just ride with it.

Even if you’re one of those people who loved high school, take some amount of time to not look back. Don’t spend your first few days at college or work wishing you were in homeroom. It’s one thing to miss it, but it’s another thing to let it consume you and hold you back. You have an opportunity that so many people would kill to have: a new start. A fresh chapter. To be whatever or whoever it is you are. So build yourself, because no one is going to do it for you.