Dear (senior) Sarah,
Congratulations! You never thought you would make it this far, but here you are. (Seriously, you need to have more faith in yourself.) It’s senior year and you’re almost done with high school.
I know you’re itching to graduate, leave, and never look back. Who isn’t? But before you start filling out applications to the farthest possible colleges, take the time to savor what you have now. You have kind friends whom you get to see every day, intelligent classmates who challenge you to bring your A-game, and teachers who truly care about you. Sure, there’s been the occasional mean girl—but that’s what makes high school, high school.
Take pictures. Write everything down, from the corny jokes your calculus teacher makes to the funny doodles your physics instructor sketches on the whiteboard. These were the things that made high school bearable, and they’re some of what you’ll miss most.
Shake off senioritis. Your grades have always been important to you. They still are, even when you’ve already been accepted to college. Continue to strive to do better. Don’t let a few months of slacking off diminish three years of hard work. All those sleepless nights spent studying should count for something.
Make each moment count. Cheer for your friends at football games. Join a new club—it doesn’t matter if you’re the oldest member. Go to prom and dance your ass off. High school isn’t beneath you. And it probably never will be. You’ll regret isolating yourself when you could’ve been having fun.
High school left its mark on you, for better or for worse. It taught you how to fail (Trigonometry) and get back up, ready to learn and work and improve. It also taught you not to let your classmates know you have the newest iPhone, because you live in New York City and someone WILL steal it.
You would always joke about how the building resembled a prison, but you knew you wanted to be here. After all, no inmate would voluntarily take a 45-minute bus ride to get to Alcatraz. And those who get out typically don’t miss it.
But you might.
Good luck,
(senior) Sarah
cover art via KWolff Art
Patrick Thompson
Julianna Chen
Kathryn Zix
Sarah Kearns