Dear underclassmen,

Some of the most common phrases you will hear a senior say is “I can’t wait to leave,” “I can’t wait to graduate,” or “I can’t wait to get out of this town.” But hear me out: don’t ever wish away your senior year. Become more spirited at football games, dress up to the theme and lose your voice at the volleyball games, laugh a little more during the school day. Take in all those special times and be fully present because you will want those memories and good feelings to carry with you as you grow throughout High School. And yes, those words may sound “cliche” but they have never been more true for me.

It seems like just yesterday when I first stepped onto this campus. This sight was terrifying considering I was only 14. I was going to school with adults. Now I am one of those adults, and the real world is about to hit the Class of 2021 like a freight train, with no intention of slowing down. You’ve got to enjoy and cherish these four years. They really are some of the best. They are full of adventure, learning new things and “high school only” events you can only experience once. The weeks may pass by slowly, but the years truly do fly by.

I advice underclassmen, to not wish your high school days away. I wish I had not made this mistake. During my junior and senior year especially, I made myself miserable by doing this. I wished away the drama, the stress, the petty people and fake friends, and I also wished away some of the best moments of high school. In focusing my energy on wishing for the time to go faster, I unknowingly also wished away the last moments with the people in my classes, my last moments standing in the student section at football games, my last dances, my last conversations with my teachers, my last competitions and performances, my last practices with my teams, and everything else that I actually loved about high school. I would advise you all to soak up those little moments with the best of your ability because in the end, you may just have run out of time before you even know it.

That is just the thing: You never know how many of anything you have left. Days, weeks, practices, meets, competitions, dances, concerts, and more. You may feel like you can, but you can never count on having a certain number of any of these things. Thinking you have another day or another chance or another season does not make the present any less valuable. I found that the more dances or practices or seasons or days I thought I had left, the less I valued them. I regret thinking this way, and I hope you learn not to.

As you venture into your upperclassmen years, the daunting word, ~college~ will become a more commonly used phrase. Don’t worry, the whole idea of it may seem hard to grasp, but if you start making your own criteria list while investigating certain schools a bit earlier, you will make the process easier for yourself. These 4 years flew by so fast. Before you know it, you will be throwing up your caps at graduation. I know that for underclassmen this is a different experience for you all, but take it from the senior class of 2021, and make the best out of the rest of the time you have left at Seminole. Grow as people, as we all did, because you can’t get the great memories back when it’s all done. To end this I would like to say thank you to everyone, for everything, and Go Noles.
With Lots of Love,

A fellow senior of the class of 2021.