If there's one piece of advice I'd give to any person, during any point in their life, it would be to enjoy life right in the moment and never wish it away. I know what you're thinking, the line "enjoy life in the moment" is so cliche and you never want to hear it again, but the power of a quote that simple when you're experiencing the feeling it describes only rattles your heartstrings and touches your soul when you realize that moment is never returned to you, no matter how hard you wish for it.
The only emotions I felt during my senior year of high school were the feelings of completion, annoyance, and just total exhaustion. I was ready for the new, whatever that entailed and I wanted it more than anything. I wanted to be away from home, experiencing new friends, and living life freely. I was ready to take on any new challenges and whatever life offered, I wanted it thrown my way.
But, you have to think - the small moments leading up to the big moment are always severed by each one of us who are too excited to think of anything else. Just when I thought I was ready to be done, I walked down that long hallway where my locker was for the last time, traded my plaid uniform skirt for a white graduation gown, and sat alongside my fellow classmates ready to receive my diploma. I felt the power of that moment more readily than any moment I had ever experienced that far. It was amazing because every last thing I wished away I wanted back so badly, and as I turned the tassel on my cap, I couldn't help but shed a small tear as I looked around the crowded church at all of the memories that came rushing back. Life would never again be this innocent or this well preserved, and I never felt so out of control in this one second than I have ever been before.
I will not say high school was or will be the best years of your life, but I will say they were years to be carefree, make friends, learn endlessly, and experience some things for the first time. They were years to make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and to become a better person. They were the years where still being that crazy kid was totally accepted by every part of your life, and where not having total direction was okay, because you would learn, or you would later learn the hard way.
I think if there was a moment in life only to be described as bittersweet, this transition would be one of them. There are so many goodbyes to be said, but many more hellos to be welcomed. You lose some friends along the way, but gain ones that you will carry with you lifelong. Jobs become a must and college rolls into your life like a six-ton semi truck. You wave goodbye to this childhood you've spent so many years reveling in, and look back for the last time at everything you spent years creating. It's the part your life where childhood meets adulthood, and you're forced to hang on or let go and move on.
Best of luck to you, high school seniors.
