Dear Seniors,

Congratulations on being super close to graduation! As scary as it seems, it is by far one of the most exciting moments in your entire academic career. You are SO CLOSE to being done with high school for good and are SO CLOSE to moving into your college dorm. You probably have already started picking out decorations to put in your room and may have already found a roommate.

You're probably counting down the days until you can finally kiss your hometown goodbye and start a new chapter in your life. With all the excitement surrounding the end of one chapter and the start of a new one, I'm giving you one piece of advice: cherish every moment you have while you can.

Kris Allen's lyrics in Live Like We're Dying say this, "you never know a good thing 'til it's gone." This lyric applies to my advice because it's the little things that you don't even think of that you will miss. This is why I advise you to appreciate every little moment you still have left in school. Enjoy having classes with your friends because come next semester, they won't be in the same class as you. Instead of getting mad at your friends for petty reasons, grow up and appreciate all that they have to offer.

Hang out with them and laugh like there's no tomorrow. Pretty soon, you all will be in different states- maybe even timezones- and all you will have is FaceTime and school breaks.

Cherish every moment you have with your family. Hang out with your family members and make sure they know how much you love them. You will go from seeing them all the time to only seeing them on weekends you come home or over breaks. Say all you want about you not going to miss home in college, but I can guarantee you that you will miss them more than you can imagine.

You're going to regret not hanging out with them as much as you could when you were home which is why I say take advantage of all the opportunities you have to hang out with family.

Look around you and appreciate everything. Remember to take time and appreciate your "lasts". Your last performance onstage, your last sports game, your last History class, your last time walking through the doors of your school, capture every second of it. Remember how it made you feel and how bittersweet it is to end one thing and start another.

So while a new chapter in your life is exhilarating, take time to appreciate what this chapter has in store for you. Like Kris Allen said, "you never know a good thing 'til it's gone."