This is it, the moment you’ve been waiting for. Lockers have been shut for their final time, senior awards of every kind have been given out, yearbooks have been signed and you’ve walked out of your high school for the final time as a student… Crazy isn’t it?

The four years of high school are a wild ride. There are countless “firsts” and now, with graduation just waiting at the door, you’ve finally had all of your “lasts.”

Last first day, last homecoming. Last prom, last AP exams (*tears of joy* amiright?)  And I’m sure along the way, all you could think about is that one moment, when tassels are turned and caps are sent flying. When you get a piece of paper that solidifies the 12 year struggle you’ve finally completed.

Before that, though, here’s a few things I wish someone would have reminded me in this season of life!

1. Okay, first of all, senior events are fun and you should go even if you think they’re super lame. Maybe senior breakfast doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, but it’s one of the last times your whole class will be together. It’s one of the last times, ever really, that you’ll be able to look around the room and see endless familiar faces. It’s one of the last chances you’ll get to strike up conversation with your freshman year bff or say thanks to all the teachers who got you there. So go to the senior events, they’re put on FOR YOU and you’ll be happy you went.

2. Everything that was such a big deal over the last 4 years disappears with that diploma. All of the stress and the struggle. All of the sleepless nights worrying about that chemistry exam you knew you’d fail and all of the times you actually did fail. All of the “school things” that seemed so huge are immeasurably small compared to the future that’s in front of you. Remember that and let them go. You made it!

3. Thank your parents for everything they’ve done. All the nights they waited up with you finishing that project you waited a little too long to start, and all the early mornings they were up at the crack of dawn to see you off to school. This is their moment too, remind them of that.

4. BE HAPPY. Graduation can be stressful for some people… everything has to be perfect right? Perfect hair, perfect shoes, perfect weather, perfect pictures. Nothing can go wrong because this is your night. Well, take it from one of the 400 FWBHS grads who sat in a full-on thunderstorm during their own graduation… it doesn’t have to be perfect to be memorable and everything you want it to be. My hair was ruined, my gown was soaked and the only pictures I have that weren’t taken beforehand are with my equally soggy classmates in our school gym. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way because regardless of the conditions, it was one of the happiest times of my life. Graduation is HUGE so be happy even if things don’t go exactly how you hoped.

5. Finally, don’t forget that life goes on after you walk across that stage. College and jobs come. You make new friends. You reconnect with old friends. You move across the state or maybe even the country. Life keeps moving forward and so do you. The day-after-graduation blues will probably hit you. You may wake up and have the overwhelming feeling that it’s over… everything you’ve worked for essentially your entire life is done and now you’re starting over. Take that as a blessing! You’re starting over! You have a fresh slate! College is exciting and scary and hard and great, but the good will only outweigh the not so good if you let it. So don’t be afraid to say goodbye to high school, it got you where you are but only you can get you where you’re going. 

More than anything, Class of 2016, get excited!! You’re going to do big things, and this is only the beginning!