I feel, although I do believe that my best years are those to come, my high school years have definitely been the most memorable so far. I strongly believe that high school has been the open door into the rest of my life.   

The last days of my high school career are fast approaching and I can only imagine how I will be feeling when I step out of Bel Air for the very last time. Throughout these four years, I have felt a lot of urgency about graduating high school. I didn’t think that the time to graduate would come soon enough. Now, that time is finally nearing. I cannot believe that it has come this fast.

I remember my first days of high school. I was just dying to experience all the new and exciting things that awaited me. Now that I have done all those things and many more, I am about to embark on a new adventure, one that will take me farther than high school ever could. Some say that high school was the best time of their lives; others say that high school was the worst time in their lives. To be honest, I am not sure which category I fall into. I’ve had plenty of good times, as well as just as many bad times, in high school. The only thing I can say is that I learned. Not just through the books that my teachers handed out, but I learned about life and the road ahead of me.

From being an inexperienced sophomore to a somewhat mature senior, things have really changed for me. I started high school as a naïve freshman ready to carve my own path, one that I did not know where I wanted it to take me. I will leave high school as an ambitious senior, knowing that there are many dangers to encounter in the real world. Realistically, I do not know what the world out there holds for me. All I can do is enter it with a guarded optimism and hope for the best.

Now that I have gotten into college, I have declared what I think I want do with the rest of my life, and it is only the start of second semester. There is this almost black hole of the second half of the year that I do not know what to do with. Yes, I still have classes, and yes, I will still make sure my grades are as good as they have always been, but there is so much more that needs to be done. Think about it, there are exactly 123 days until graduation (including weekends). Only 123 days to be with your friends that you have made, only 123 days to tell somebody that you appreciate them, or that you’re sorry. Only 123 more days until you walk across that stage and you do not walk back through those doors. As emotional and cheesy as that sounds, it is all so surreal to me.

So in these last 123 days, embrace all the possibilities of senior year. Go to more sporting events, go to clubs, don’t forget to spend time with your family, hang out with your friends. There will be a time in your life when you look back and you remember the good times, or you regret that you did not do anything. Don’t be bitter! ☺