I remember how exciting it was to graduate and finally be out of school. I was giddy over the endless possibilities I'd encounter and all the freedom I was about to have. I was so sure I was ready to be an adult and just knew it would be the easiest thing ever. I WAS WRONG. I was ridiculously naive. I knew nothing about anything in the adult world, and I'm still stumbling through life clueless. The real world is rough and full of surprises!

The drama is over!

Ha. False. Drama doesn't just magically disappear when you graduate high school. Drama is part of life and will be in every class, family, workplace, etc.

I'm gonna party so hard.

Or you're gonna be the DD for all your friends, every time, and prefer to take naps or binge-watch Netflix than go ANYWHERE.

My house will always be clean!

Yeah, probs not. Clean clothes, dirty clothes, empty water bottles, and a lot more, will start to flood your little apartment. Speed clean moments before someone is coming by- works for me every time.

I can eat cereal for dinner and ice cream for breakfast.

You could, but chances are you can only afford ramen noodles, and on special occasions: Taco Bell. Like have you seen how much a gallon of milk costs?

You can continue to eat junk.

FALSE. Every sip of Mountain Dew will widen your thighs just a little, and every chocolate chip out of that muffin will be going straight to your new muffin top. Before you know it you gotta swap-shop or donate all your old clothes. Your old high school T-shirts probably won't allow for the extra freshmen 15. Or 50, or whatever.

I'm gonna make so many new friends!

You could totally make a ton of new friends actually. Many people do after high school. Join Greek life, clubs, meet people and collect friends like your grandpa collects stamps. Or you could be like me and end up with more chins than friends.

I'm gonna go to the gym like all the time and get in some early morning jogs, maybe some nightly yoga.

For real? You will most likely order pizza way too often and become a part of your couch. If you do make it to the gym, you're gonna need to be on that treadmill until you graduate to work off your midnight snack. And good luck figuring out how to use all those machines!

I'm just gonna take some easy online classes.

No actually, you're probably not. Online classes are fast paced, scary, and challenging. You have to be amazing at organizing and have killer time management skills.

I'm going to get on honor roll & graduate early!

Maybe. But maybe not. There's a chance you could fail an important gen-Ed, like twice. College classes are NOTHING like high school classes. They can be overwhelming and fast paced and just plain difficult. Sometimes you'll get a professor that spends the whole class period drawing pictures on the board that don't even make sense. There's also a chance you may change your major like every other day and have NO FREAKING IDEA what you are supposed to do for the rest of your life.

I'm probably just gonna work a calm desk job until I'm done with college.

Ha. It's possible. But it's more possible that you'll end up driving a golf cart around campus to deliver pizzas in the middle of the night. Or you'll end up dealing with the elderly and bodily fluids every day. Gotta do whatcha gotta do, right?

Ain't nobody gonna tell me what to do. I'm gonna do whatever I want when I want.

Ha. Not even a little true. You'll have professors that will give you deadlines, classes at certain times, assignments, grades. You'll have a landlord telling you when rent is due. You might have a job that controls when you can wake up and go to sleep. And, if you're like me: a small child that is in charge of when you can eat, sleep, shower, use the bathroom, etc.

This is sad, I'll never see any of my classmates again.

If you came from a small town, imagining not spending every day with the people you have grown up with is pretty sad. If you move away, you may not see them often or at all. If you stick around the area, you may see some of your old classmates from time to time. Not gonna lie, seeing your old junior high crush a few years after graduation, when you are sporting a few extra pounds, is ridiculously awkward. But that bond you had will never go away.

I'll never see my teachers again.

Maybe you won't. Maybe you'll try to avoid your former teacher at a restaurant. Or maybe you'll see your old Spanish teacher at Walmart and the conversation will go somewhat like this:

"Ohhhh hiiiiii hello! How are you?!"

Me: "Good!" *trying to walk away*

"Oh my is that YOUR baby??"

Me: Yes, this is my daughter.

"Oh. What a surprise!"

Uhh... Yep.

Everyone's after high school experience will be completely different, but chances are yours will be nothing like you expected!