On your first day as a freshman, you were so lost and clueless. Your backpack was a little too big and you didn't know where you'd fit in yet. Upperclassmen took the honor of convincing you that there is a pool on the third floor of the school. You struggled with your locker combination and seniors made you nervous. By sophomore year you were just thankful to have gotten rid of the title of a "freshman". You knew your way around the school (finally), and you were no longer the youngest of the bunch. Oh, and you learned that there is no pool and no third floor. By junior year, you just couldn't wait to be a senior and rule the school. And finally, senior year came. You remember, as a freshman, looking up to the seniors and wanting to be just like them. Now freshmen are looking up to YOU. But, your turn to rule the school is over. You've experienced a bit of senioritis this past year, but now that the time has come to get outta here, it feels bittersweet.

Over these past 4 years, you met new people. You noticed changes in yourself, physically and mentally. You gained friends. You lost friends. You got rides to the mall from your parents. You snuck into movies. You got a job. You learned how to manage your own money. You went to your first party. You experienced the student section of a sports game for the first time. You snuck out. You got your license. You learned that your parents aren't going to fund your gas tank forever. You had your first real relationship. You had your first real heartbreak. You learned how to be a friend. And now, you graduate, and it's all over. There's no going back. High school is nothing but a memory now. Just something you can reminisce on with your friends. Those "best friends" from your freshman year that you SWORE you'd be best friends with forever aren't around anymore. You've changed your dream job 3 times already in the past few years, and you'll probably end up changing it 3 more times. You've changed so much as a person over this 4-year trek to finish high school...and you finally did it.

Looking at pictures from over the years, you can't help but wish you could re-live every moment captured just one more time. You might not be friends with the people in the photos anymore, but you still wish them well. You've grown up. Now you're 18 with your own car, your own bank account, no curfew. And you've realized that life after high school isn't about who has the most friends, or who has the nicest car in the student parking lot. It's about being self-sufficient. It's about saving money and paying bills and buying gas and working long hours. It's about being an adult. Deciding whether college is for you or not. Learning to manage your time and your budget. Cutting toxic people out of your life. The minute you graduate high school is the minute you step into the real world. You'll learn that not everyone is as nice as your English teacher from your sophomore year, and not everyone who claims to be your friend is really your friend.

This is the time when you really grow up. You'll realize that you don't really need to know half the things you learned in math class, but you'll be thankful for the high school experience anyway. You'll look back and be thankful for everything you experienced; because it made you the person you are today. It helped you decide what you want to do with your life. And you will carry out those plans, and every now and then, you'll think about high school, and remember it as the best 4 years of your life.