At the end of the month, you will walk across the track, shake hands with a series of familiar faces, and be handed a piece of paper that marks the biggest change in your life thus far. The track you are standing on is no longer the place you cheer on the football team, the building up the hill is no longer a place where you dread going to every morning at 7:25 a.m., the people sitting around you are no longer the faces you will see every morning as you go through the lunch line and during passing period. This paper is a representation of 12 years of hard work and frustrating moments, but also of memories and learning moments.

These next few months are going to be full of shopping for dorm decorations and stressful moments of trying to figure out your schedule for first semester. You are going to have awkward encounters trying to meet a roommate and friends for the coming year. You are going to question every decision you make and you are going to wonder if you are ever making the right one. While receiving this paper is going to bring a lot of changes and big decisions, I want you to know I am right here by your side.

There are some things I want you to know during this big and exciting transition. I want you to know that even though I'm annoying, it’s only because I love you. I want you to squeeze every bit of potential from every new experience. I want you to learn from my mistakes so you don’t have to go through the hard times that I did. I want people to see what a contagiously determined and passionate person you are like I do. I want you to accomplish every dream that you could ever think of having. I'm sorry for hovering and for getting ‘all up in your business’ but I just want to make sure you know how much I care. Because I want you to know, little sister, that if I could give you the world myself, I would.

But with that being said, I also want you to know this is your time to grow and to learn. You are going to struggle with a class and you will get a bad grade on the quiz you studied all night for. You will meet a boy at a party, give him your number, never get a text, and not know why. You will have a falling out with a friend and it will be awkward in the dining hall when you see them. (Pretending to be on your phone helps, just a tip.) I can’t solve all of your problems or resolve every conflict. It’s OK to make mistakes, in fact I encourage them! But I want you to know little sister, that your big sister is always here to be a shoulder to cry, a listening ear, and a helping hand (I might even throw in a couple painfully not so funny jokes to try and make you feel better). I can’t wait for you to experience all of the things college will bring you.

Believe in yourself sis, I certainly do, and you will be unstoppable.