Dear High School Senior Alex,

Wow, there's a lot going on here. Um, OK. Well.

You know what? Let's just follow tradition and have a little chat about what's happening with your 'look' right now. You've started periodically wearing sweatpants to school, which is new, except they're men's sweatpants that are about 8,000 sizes too big and if you stand perfectly still the fabric doesn't touch your legs at all and this is not the look you want, my lazy friend. But since I know you only wear them once in a while, I'll let it slide for now. The rest of your wardrobe has stayed pretty basic, which is OK seeing as you're dealing with senior year stress and all and it's impressive that you even remember to put on pants every morning.

But girl, your beauty game is nonexistent. Do you remember in one of my earlier letters to you where I told you to enjoy your nice skin while it lasts? Yeah, senior year is when your Complexion Doomsday happens. You're going to break out all along one side of your face--the severity will vary day-to-day, but it will get worse all through the summer, too--and you'll be powerless to stop it. Even your Maybelline foundation that smells like paint and is way too pink for your skin tone won't be able to hide it, so you'll have to grin and bear it for the time being. I'm so sorry.

Now, we need to talk about what's happening to your hair right now. At some point, you're going to go get your hair cut (in the normal pixie style that we prefer) and when you get home, you're going to decide that your bangs are a touch too long. And then you're going to start chopping into them like you actually have any business cutting your own hair--even though you know damn well that you do NOT have this authority--before bothering to wash and style it to see if your bangs are actually too long, or if it's just an illusion. Then you're going to be stuck with tiny sprout-fringe that sticks straight out one week before spring break and three before your senior prom and you'll just have to style it as best as you can because you'll be too ashamed to go back to your hairdresser and admit to her that you cut your own hair. This all happens because you're the dumbs. And as scarring as that whole experience ends up being, we still temp fate by trimming our own hair every once in a while because we’re still the dumbs in our junior year of university.

Academically, you’re doing alright. I still don’t know what possessed us to retake AP Calculus after we felt like death doing homework every night of junior year, but I won’t rake you over the coals about that again because we have other things to discuss.

Boys.

Because this is the year that you finally get that super-cliché romance you’ve been promised in every movie about high school ever.

You know that boy that you’ve had a monster crush on for weeks and you somehow end up going to prom together but you keep telling yourself that he only likes you as a friend? Yeah, you’re gonna date and it’s going to do emotional things to you.

You know how you thought you were so much more mature than all of the other girls you saw in relationships around you? Yeah, I want to personally go back in time and help you to remove your head from your butt because that is not true at all. You’re going to exist in a perpetually exhausted state because you stay up late every. Damn. Night. Just to text this boy. And you’re going to be happier than you can ever remember being because that’s what high school romance does to a person.

But please, please, PLEASE remember that this is your senior year, which means this is the last time you’ll be in the same place as all your high school best friends. And while it’s great to exist in that high school romance bubble where all you want to do is talk to that boy, don’t let that relationship overshadow how much time you spend with your other close friends because—I know you’ve been avoiding thinking about this, but I’m going to tell you anyway—those are the relationships that last. So just keep that in mind if you ever feel like your high school romance is keeping you from doing things that will strengthen other relationships and help you grow as a person, you need to reevaluate things a bit.

Now, the most difficult thing I want to talk to you about.

Senior year is the year that you finally hit your stride. You have a friend group that you hang out with on the weekends, a close inner-circle of friends that you love unconditionally, a boyfriend who makes you laugh and gets along with everyone and you finally feel situated. And graduation is about to pull the rug out from under you and ruin everything and you’re not ready.

But you know what? It’s OK that you’re not ready just yet. Just because everyone around you seems to be so excited about moving on and uprooting their lives to start new ones at college and at new jobs, that doesn’t mean you’ll automatically feel ready, too. And trying to force yourself to be ready without actually talking through your thoughts and fears about moving on in life is just going to make it that much harder for you to actually acclimate yourself to college once you actually get there.

That being said, you need to stop clinging so hard to the things you’re comfortable with and embrace the new things, even when it’s hard. Choosing to prioritize your high school love life over making new memories at school will do absolutely nothing to benefit you as a person, so stop texting him constantly and go out and live your life. Your friends from high school will always be there for you to lean on if you need help, but sitting in your room and refusing to accept your present situation won’t allow you to grow at all.

And now, some closing advice:

-Stop cutting your own bangs (yeah, I know we still do it, but we shouldn’t)

-Keep moisturizing.

-If you insist on growing out your hair, don’t let it look like a mushroom.

-Invest in sweatpants that don’t make you look like you’re drowning in them.

-Props to you for conning your way into the Washington D.C. band trip even though you’re abysmal at the flute. (This wasn’t advice, I’m just really proud of myself for making that happen—the trip was one of the highlights of my high school career.)

-Take care of yourself, because college is a bitch.

Lots of love,

Future Alex