My Nickel’s Worth
As seniors in high school begin to graduate this month, my advice for them is that this is only the beginning; although your senior year was cut short, and nothing I can say can make that any better, I do hope you will enjoy every single moment of the next season of your life...whether that be college, military, the workforce, or trade school.
Five years ago, next week, I was graduating from high school, about to be embark on my next journey to college. These past five years have just flown by, and it does not feel like it has been that long at all since I walked across that stage to receive my high school diploma. Since that time, I have completed college and have finished half of my courses to complete graduate school. The time is just gone before you know it.
These next few months will pass quickly, so enjoy this time with family and local friends as much as you can. College was the best four years of my life and it flew by in the blink of an eye. So, savor every single moment. Once you graduate from high school and become an adult, you become completely your own person and find out who you truly are. While in college, I began to make my own decisions: where I was going to eat, when I was going to study, who I was going to become friends with, when I was going to go to the gym. You begin making these decisions on your own and you become your own person. I met some of my best friends in college, even those that will be in my wedding. I met my fiancée in that period of time as well, and I began making connections with people throughout the university-- connections that have helped me get to where I am today. Become involved in organizations, local churches, and serve others. I did, and the rewards and benefits are endless.
My mother, who spent many years working as a college English professor and advisor, gave me some amazing advice when she said that a person often sets their life path between the ages of 18 and 22, and this is a time to make smart choices. What you do with your life for the first few years after high school will impact your future. Be wise when it comes to your career choices, training, and the friends who surround you.
If you are heading to college, aside from studying and making the best grades possible, use this time to discover new people and make friends. Get out and meet people daily, especially early on when you do not know anyone. Get involved. Join a club/organization or two and become an active part of your university. I promise you will meet new people by doing this, people that you will really come to know and could potentially be friends with for a lifetime
When I was a freshman in college, I decided to interview to become a freshman orientation leader. This was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I was an orientation leader for three years and met many amazing people along the way, people with whom I can call up right now, and they would be there for me in whatever I needed. These are people who I still talk to daily, some of whom will be in my wedding. You never know who you are going to meet, but once you meet them and build those friendships/relationships, you definitely know that this is something that God has put in motion for you. I met my fiancée at the Baptist Student Center, and a year later, she asked me out. Ha! Ha! Meeting new people can often lead to wonderful rewards.
Again, seniors, I cannot express enough how you need to savor every single moment. Do not stay in your dorm room or apartment everyday by yourself and watch Netflix. You have a lifetime to do that. Go to Dairy Queen or Sonic and get ice cream with your buddies after a week of finals, attend a theater performance or a sporting event on a school night (responsibly of course and not affecting your academics), go watch a midnight showing of a movie you desperately want to see, go to a retreat with a college Christian group, go out and play tennis and basketball at random times throughout a day when you have time. Just SAVOR this time, and do not let it go to waste (As long as it doesn’t interfere with your academics/job which are the most important things). Aside from school and work, enjoy this time as you grow into an adult. Use this time to discover who you are spiritual, politically, socially, and emotionally. Then work on being the best version of yourself that you can be.
Enjoy the next few years.
In the words of Andy Bernard from the Office, stating that “I wish there was a way to know you were in the good ole days before you actually left them.”