Since I am a senior, that means in approximately 84 days I graduate. This is quite a stressful fact considering how unprepared I feel both physically and emotionally. One of the main emotions I feel when I realize how close I am to completely leaving and starting a new chapter in my life is nostalgia. 

I reflect back to the days when I was completely dependent and the stuff that was most important to me was completely different from what it is now. While almost everything is still very uncertain, I feel so much more confident in myself than I did years prior. If I could tell my younger self anything, I think I would say just to not be so serious. Everything that happens in life, happens for a reason. It’s not the end of the world if something doesn’t go your way. Also, please don’t try so hard to please others or be validated by other people. Your existence is enough and the people that really are there for you don’t need to work so hard to please them or earn their approval. 

I thought it would be really interesting to ask some of my other fellow seniors what advice they would give their younger self, so I decided to ask a couple of people and was really delighted by some of the responses. Senior Estelle Broussard said, “I would definitely tell my freshman year me entering high school, that life does get better and with time, everything will fall into place.” Senior Ashtyn Raxsdale said, “I would tell my younger self to stop overthinking everything and to, most importantly, have fun. Life around you flies by and you need to enjoy every minute of it.” 

We all are very lucky to have spent the last four years in such an amazing environment where we have all been able to grow and experience the ups and downs of life. Overall, as scary as adulting and preparing for the future may be, I enthusiastically enter this new phase of my life and know that I am more prepared for whatever comes my way than I ever have been before!