hello high school seniors (and who else happens to be reading this little post of mine today),
i’ve obviously been making a lot of content about college in this past year because of COURSE it has demanded my whole life basically since i was a senior in high school, and now, getting to talk to my friends and being able to look back at my life as a senior i’m writing an open letter to you all about what i’ve learned since being a senior in high school and what y’all should do and consider this year, alright, without further ado…
today a sorority sister and i visited a coffee shop. in the many things we talked about one of the things we mentioned is how if we had the chance to have all the experiences we’ve had since college and apply to school all over again (not transfer) but be a high school senior and have all the knowledge we have now we both probably would not have chose GW, or even applied.
and i know how this sounds. pretty bad right? i mean not just one, but two students in completely different disciplines from two different places both don’t think they would have made this decision, yeah it doesn’t exactly seem like the perfect “advertisement” for our school. but i have LOTS of conversations with people and it seems to always go this way.
in freshman year, i lived with someone who before even coming to school i considered family (i mean from being little i called her mother “aunt”) and we had known each other since birth. we had gone through periods of not being close to one another but whenever we got together we could talk for HOURS and still not be done talking. and something we always come back to in conversation is how we’ve grown leaps and bounds since attending university.
we have both bloomed into these pseudo-adult roles and we both know what we want, are passionate about things and know our worth and what we’re prepared to do in tough situations. and although i expected in college i would be ‘learning alot’, i truly don’t think i understand in how many forms growth and learning can take place, and in my senior year of high school it was an immense time of growth.
i’m confident enough to say that senior year was easily my best one in high school. i had amazing passionate teachers whom i loved, i excelled in all my classes (I GOT ONE OF THE TOP 500 SCORES IN AP GOV YO, that takes alot) and although admittedly it was my most difficult year mental health and friend wise (not even gonna go into this one) i freaking LOVED senior year. i was able to take ap studio art which just really made me feel confident in my career choices and i knew what my future held. but i think i wished it away, like everyday.
don’t wish time away, please. even though i spent so much time thinking about my future in high school i still had an incredible time. i got into all the schools i wanted to and i got to have freedom in indescribable incredible ways. but i spent most of my year either ready to leave out of frustration with my situations (*with friends or home/health stuff) and i cannot count how many times i thought “wow, i’m so ready to leave this crap hole.” and admittedly, although i think i was beyond ready to leave and grow i missed too much waiting to leave.
now i don’t wanna tell you all what you don’t wanna hear, but don’t be me. and thats coming straight from the horse’s mouth. just don’t yo. please just put up with all the things that are frustrating you in real time, cause even if you don’t get homesick when you get to college (hehe not like me, that was painful) you will think about all the things you missed cause you were so ready to be done with them.
ONE MORE ANECDOTE CAUSE I GOTTA LEAVE Y’ALL ON THIS NOTE. every year since i was 5 or 6 i attended a summer camp for one week each summer with the girl scouts (something i highly suggest all young women should participate in). as a ‘older girl’ i became a leader in the camp and made friends with a set of older girls (including my sister) who were 2 years older than me. once they left the camp (two summers before i did, as they aged out that much sooner) i was left to find new people and was super resentful that i still had to be there and doing that as one of the odd people out at the camp. i resented it so much in the first year without my friends. i wished the whole week away and thought i only had one more year and then i’d get my dues. so i came back the next year still bitter and jaded but after the first day everyday driving into camp i inexplicably started to cry as i was gonna miss this so much. but these days were conflicting as hell, because i half wanted them to end, and i half had MAD nostalgia for being a younger girl and how much i loved this camp. and now thinking about it, i miss it when it comes to be that point in the year, cause i get so nostalgic about the camp songs that will play through my brain during exams and other important moments.
long story short. enjoy where you’re at, cause when its over you’re gonna miss it too much.
enjoy the little things
xoxo, kate
