As Winter Break ends for all of you high-schoolers out there and reality sets back in, the second semester is quickly approaching, and for all of the seniors, it's going to be the last. While thoughts and plans for college or other future aspirations continue to form and the excitement grows, there are a few things you should keep in mind to make sure your high school career ends on a high note:

1. Cherish the time you spend with your friends.

With all of the amazing things that graduation and college bring, the sad truth is that once the summer is over, you will be seeing much less of your friends from home. The people you are used to seeing every day at school and calling on the weekends to hang out will not be there anymore. In this generation, staying in touch is so much easier with the texts, Snapchats, and FaceTime calls that can be exchanged whenever, but none of those can replace the amount of face-to-face contact you will be giving up. So make sure to spend as much time with your friends as you can. It will make the times you reunite during breaks and visits that much better. You will undoubtedly make even more lifetime friends at college, and you will be able to come home and reconnect with your old ones too.

2. Don't blow off your school work.

The stereotype is that seniors in their second semester are free to drop school as a main priority, take easy classes, and ultimately just slack off, because colleges have already accepted them or just do not care about final grades. As real as "senioritis" can be, you should not become a victim. Not only do colleges look at your final grades, they take advantage of their ability to rescind acceptances for students whose work ethic has significantly declined. That means that your senioritis will not only give you a bad report card, but potentially cost you a chance to go to the colleges to which you worked so hard applying. It is easy to let the excitement of graduation get to you, but do not let it interfere with your future. Plus, working hard until the end will make the transition to the college workload so much easier.

3. Get more involved.

For the past few years, you may have been avoiding as many school events as possible. After all, you had to spend so many hours there doing work, why would you go back? You would skip out on everything to hang out with your friends, watch Netflix, or sleep, promising to go to the next thing that came up. But now this semester is filled with lots of "lasts," and the opportunities are running out. So go cheer on your friend in her last game and be there to clap for your classmate who got the lead in the musical. Your high school spirit and tight-knit community will not be within close reach forever.

So, take advantage of your last semester at home, and get excited for the next four years, which are bound to be incredible!