As a freshmen, I thought I had senioritis. I was wrong. So very, very wrong. Again, towards the end of my junior year, I thought I was ready to get of of high school; that I had reached my lowest point of self-motivation. If you, my dear reader, are an underclassmen and have the delusion that you have senioritis, like underclassmen me did, let me tell you: you do not know. You do not know what real, true, senioritis is until you are there. In the midst of trying to hold on to my fading attention span and effort until the final days of high school, as a side effect of senioritis, I have become particularly reflective and nostalgic. Nostalgic to the point that just walking through the cafeteria made me think about how much time has past. Here’s a brief collection of my thoughts, advice and feelings as a soon to be graduate.

Sleep. For goodness sake, get enough sleep. Yes, it is crucial to try your best, yes, it is crucial to work hard, but it is just as crucial, if not more so, to take care of yourself. And saying this, realistically, I know it doesn’t mean a full eight hours every night. Does that even exist? I am no stranger to the all nighter. I also know that I cannot function properly when I’m sleep deprived. You might say, well I don’t have time to sleep because of all the work and extracurriculars I have to do, regardless, make time. Let yourself sleep. You need it.

Find your people. You will need that one person or that solid group to vent and rant and laugh with. And I mean people who care about being there for you as much as you care about being there for them. Period. When you find them, keep them. Sure, there may be patches when it’s not so friendly, but solid friendships are worth making the effort to keep.

Don’t hold yourself back from being passionate. Being excited about something is fun. Being exceptionally good at something is fun. Sharing your passion with other people is fun. Meeting people who are passionate about what you’re passionate about is fun. And if you don’t know what you’re passionate about, try to find it. Somewhere along the way, you’re bound to stumble or smack right into it.

Now is not the time to say no to your dreams. Yes, that sounds cheesy but I’m saying it. Now is the time to let yourself try. Don’t hold yourself back. You want to be on the varsity whatever it is? Go for it. You want to apply to that school far away or with a frighteningly low acceptance rate? Go for it. You want to be the astronaut, the doctor, the actor, the anything statistics or the people around you tell you that you have little to no chance achieving? Go for it. Give yourself possibilities while you can. Don’t regret not even trying in the first place. I think that’s one of the most weightiest kinds of regret.

Be spontaneous. Now you may ask, how can I be spontaneous if I’m trying to be spontaneous? That’s the thing, you’ll know when you’ll know. And I’m not soliciting recklessness, but do things because, why not? Be spontaneously kind, to yourself, to friends, to people in your class you’ve never talked to before. Be spontaneously fun; why not go get ice cream on a freezing night and sit in the back of a truck? Or go to a school event you’ve never been to before? Noting that finding a balance between the planned and the unplanned is important, I recommend the occasional taste of the unexpected.

Don’t get caught up on looking at things in the long run. It’s great to plan and work towards your future, but thinking in short term is okay too. Try not to let the long term make you worry about things you don’t have to worry about quite yet. Sometimes thinking in the short term, taking things in smaller increments, can be the best long run plan.

You’re going to love being asked where you’re going to college or what you’re doing after high school a million and five times all year long. Because I am not actually talking to you right now, let me be clear, that was sarcasm.

I have been asked if I feel like high school went by fast and in truth, it feels like it has and it hasn’t. Looking at a glance it really does feel like freshmen year was yesterday, but as I think about it more, so many moments from the past four years come back to me making it feel long and full. I have done a lot in my four years, and I still feel like I could’ve done more. You’re here for four years, make them good, don’t rush, be a teenager, it’s still okay to be goofy sometimes even when the world expects you to grow up. For yourself, for the memories, for the dreams we share. Forever Cedar Park High.