Well, it’s that time of year where we get closer to the end of the year and everyone is in a frenzie over the summer and the approaching year of school. Only this time things are going to go different in my direction. I only felt compelled to write this after hearing the countless speeches at the President’s Farewell and taking into consideration at what is going around me at school. I also felt the need to write this now seeing as I might not have an opportunity later on nor will I be composed enough to formulate a coherent thought. But, all in all let me begin with Senior Year. I reread my Senior letter today and I’m proud to say that I felt like I lived up to my expectations that I had. I have no doubt that I lived my Senior year to it’s capacity and there was no other way I would have rather spent it. 

If there is anything that I would hope people could take from this is that once you realize that life is about living in the moment- that’s when you begin to experience the grand opportunities there are in this world. Maybe it’s due to the fact that all throughout high school we are taught to “prepare”- everyday is a day taken up to prepare for tomorrow, but when we spend all our time setting up for tomorrow we never allow time for enjoying today. My example would be when I confide in my parents my love of sleeping in and distaste for having to get up early each day for school. Their response? “Well when you get a job that is what your life is going to be like so you better get used to it.” Getting used to it is another word for preparing. Being young shouldn’t be wasted completely on the thought of always preparing but rather equalling the both. If I spent all my time “preparing” for having to wake up in future when will I get to say I enjoyed sleeping in? Then I will only receive, “Well you should have taken advantage when you had the chance, you’re so privileged and you don’t realize it.” We do realize it, but we don’t get the chance to experience it because we’re always “prepping”. The point that I’m trying to get across is that every once in a while it is necessary to stop preparing and start living. Don’t worry about how one small detail will affect tomorrow and just have fun- there are plenty more days to focus on those and you’ll regret never having the chance to rebel every once in a while.

That’s one of the points Senior Year has helped me come across. In my life I never like to feel like I wasted what would be a good memory. Something that I will look back on and say, “I lived a wonderful life.” And being a Senior and slowly approaching school with a “YOLO, I don’t care: motto really brought out how much I missed out all those other years when I was too busy trying to plan every last detail of my future. Your future  eventually changes as I have been told, and experienced, mostly because it’s the way it’s meant to be and it’s for the better, and that’s why my future isn’t so crucial ( I mean I still care but I’m not so anal about it anymore). In my third period class today a guest speaker, a really sweet 90 year old man, gave us possibly the most wonderful lecture I have ever heard in my life. I trust his opinion very much because he can say that he has truly lived and he knows what’s worth doing or not doing. 

Some of the things he taught me were: get rid of the negative people in your life, they aren’t worth it, take advantage of every opportunity and look towards everything as an adventure, smile and have a good firm handshake, and LIVE YOUR LIFE. Just by living and taking chances he traveled to London, Paris, Spain, he had a tour of the White House, he went from being a mail cart pusher to Vice President for that company, and he’s lived to be 90! This man accomplished so much and all he had to say was very little. My high school career has taught me many meaningful things, it has helped me grow, it has given me opportunities to discover hidden talents within myself, and much more. That is why a week from now I will hold my head up high as I walk across that stage and take my diploma. Life is calling and I’m going to be confident when I answer.