To the high school class of 2021,
I know you're excited. I know you're aching to get out of middle school and hightail it into high school. I know you've been dreaming of the day you no longer have to walk in a straight and silent line to your next class, and to have all the other freedoms high schoolers have. I'm just here to remind you to enjoy it.
Cliché as it may be, high school really does go by in a blink of an eye. I feel like yesterday I was walking in as a freshman and now here I am graduating in two months. So, take it all in. Don't wish it away.
Go to all the volleyball games and scream your heart out when you win and lift up your classmates when you lose.
Go to all the school dances no matter how lame they may be because Lord knows in college you won't get a time to sing and dance to "Lip Gloss" at the top of your lungs with your closest friends.
Figure yourself out. This is the time a lot of people find out who they are, me being one of them. Take this piece seriously, finding yourself is one of the most important things you'll do in life.
Find your friends and hold on tight. High school can be some of the best years to come, with one key factor: good friends. When I say good friends, I don't mean popular friends; I don't mean rich friends. I mean friends that make you laugh until you cry and smile until it hurts. Friends that are always there for you and bend over backwards for you.
Participate in spirit week. Please don't be those "cool kids" who think they're above spirit week, because if you do your senior year you're going to look back and regret not throwing on a Hawaiian shirt and Chaco’s for tacky tourist day just for the fun of it.
Take pride in your school. No matter where you go your high school alma matter will always be part of you. I'm proud to say that I attend St. Vincent's Academy and I wear my class ring proudly on my finger, as should you.
Be prepared for more work. I'm not going to lie, high school is 10x harder than middle school was, especially if you're taking AP classes. But luckily for you, you're going to have teachers that are going to help you along the way and teach you how to study.
Finally, enjoy it. As excited as you may be now to start high school, once you start applying to college you'll start to get senioritis and start to become excited to end high school. Don't fall into that trap as I did. I wished away my senior year dreaming of college and now here I am, two months away from graduating, not ready to leave.
Do everything you want to do, live in the moment, laugh with your friends, sing your heart out during jam sessions in the car, dress out to the football games' themes, enjoy the next four years of your life because I can promise you they're going to be great.
From,
A graduating senior in the class of 2017
