Dear High School Senior,

The starting pistol has just fired on your last fall semester, and while half of you want to freak out and cry, the rest of you cannot wait to get this over with and to move on.

On the forefront of your last year of high school,  you may feel like you’re staring down the barrel of a fully loaded super-soaker on a hot summer day, hoping the contents will be a little more fun-filled and refreshing than fear-inducing and painful when they hit you.

I am writing this because I’ve put some thought to what I want my own senior year to look like—and with those thoughts have come fruitful advice that I felt I needed to share.

Senior year, as any other year, can be both outrageous fun and healthy fear. It’s up to you which outweighs the other. But to have one without the other will leave you stranded in the end.

Take it from someone who has chosen fear for her first four years of high school: it’s harder to readjust, to reorient, and to realign yourself back to normalcy when you’re in the corner trembling at what the unknown might be. I’ve been there and it can be one of the most difficult things to fight yourself out of that corner.

But High School Senior this is for you, I write to remind you that this nine month buffer in between high school and “the real world” can be one of the most enriching experiences if you let it.

This letter is to you and me. I want to look back on this letter as time passes throughout this year, perhaps as a reminder to put feet on the advice I am giving you.

This is a letter of my thoughts that have accumulated over my four years as a high schooler. This is for my friends, maybe those who are seniors or even the friends who have already started their journey in college.

Just in case you are open to taking advice from an almost nineteen year old who has gone through more than she’d like to admit, here is what I found to be the best method in wringing out the most from the sponge that high school is.

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Make New Friends. 

It is never truly too late to make new friends. In fact, some of the sweetest ones I’ve made during high school happened in my years as an upperclassman.

So go ahead: find a freshman to mentor, start a new conversation with a stranger in your favourite coffee shop, branch out of your friend group and intersect your life and infinitely valuable story with someone you don’t already know.

Trust me: risking initial awkwardness is well worth the depth and intimacy of a friendship you may gain in the end. I experienced this my sophomore year—I had no idea I would make the friends I made and believe it or not, today they are some of my most prized friendships.

Don’t Be Stupid. 

I wish I didn’t have to state the obvious, but maybe you’re a bit like me: maybe you’ve always been the “good” kid who never tried the things your friends did. Maybe you’re ignoring the healthy fear that would keep you from doing things you know push the envelope, justifying it with “its senior year, so why not?”

I’ll let you fill in the blanks on what those envelope-pushers might be for you. Please, don’t be stupid. Your time isn’t yours to begin with, which means it’s not yours to waste.

G-O. GO. 

Interested in a club, youth group, or extracurricular that maybe your friends aren’t interested in? Sign up for it anyway.

A group of friends is taking a Saturday day trip to the mountains or beach? Tag along if they invite you. Share the adventure. I didn’t do this during my four—now five—years of high school and I really wish I had taken the opportunities when they presented themselves.

Those trips or clubs will produce some of the sweetest memories you’ll make in high school. Plus, it’s the perfect way to bring the new friends you’ve just made into some well-stewarded time with the other people you’ve been building with for the past few months, and maybe even years.

Funnel Out Fear. 

Please don’t do what I did in the first year of high school. Please do not make rash decisions that will affect people you love because you are quivering with fear because of the what may be. 

Sure, the unknowns of your future may scare the living daylight out of you, but don’t cut ties with old friends or abandon goals simply because you’re unsure if you will be able to achieve them—whether that be in high school, senior year, or even college.

A friend of mine once said, “Seasons of uncertainty help us realise what is certain through it all.” I think that friend of mine was onto something because Augustine said, “Love God, and do whatever you please: for the soul trained to love will do nothing to offend the Beloved.”

By that I think Augustine—and my friend—meant even if you are uncertain about what the future may hold, love. Love, love, love. I cannot stress that enough. What has gotten me though high school? Love. It’s the love your best friend gives after a bad day, it’s the love your teacher or mentor shows after an uncertain situation presents itself.

Love and study your heart out for that ACT/SAT. Love, and finish those college apps, friends.

Senior year is about to be full of hard decisions, some of those may include cropping people out of your life or devoting your time to a different organisation or group of people.

Let your motive be love rather than fear. In my experience, fear is a liar and it makes me want to run, cry and escape; whereas, love initiates, pursues, and cultivates a spirit of peace, joy and happiness.

Work to Play. 

To fellow seniors, have fun this year. Squeeze as much whimsy and joy out of these next few months of life as you possibly can—I know I will be doing so. Document your memories with pictures and words, and expect the best of things to come of the unexpected.

With that, steward your time to study and finish well academically—this is the reminder for myself. You’re finally in the homestretch now; it’s time to pick up the pace and sprint. Finish this marathon of high school and give academics the time and effort that would warrant a relaxing summer before the next leg of the journey begins.

Rest. A Lot. 

I wanted this to be my last point because this is the one I need to focus on. Personally, when school is in session I take little time for myself. I devote every piece of my body, mind and soul to school. Rarely do I take time to sit on a Sunday afternoon to do something I would like to do.

Finding rest in senior year, may be tough. But I have found that rest is direly important.

And I don’t mean “rest” in the form of a good afternoon nap, although I think we can all mutually agree that there is nothing quite like one of those to recharge you after a long day. I mean “rest” as in whatever it takes to energise you and bring life back into your veins. Does singing your heart out in the car calm you down and put you into a good mood? Take the time and go for a drive. Like running? Take thirty minutes as a study break for a run.

A lot of us mistake laziness for restfulness, and we ignore the fact that we’ve been substituting apathy for breathing space.

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So, Dear High School Senior— in other words me… I’m not too sure how many of my senior friends or peers may read this.

If you are standing of the forefront of your last year and it feels like you’re staring down a fully loaded super-soaker on a hot summer day, let the blast of healthy fear and outrageous fun douse you and refresh you completely.

Let your eyes be wide and your heart be open to whatever belly-busting laughter or excitement may present itself.

It’s your senior year. Wring it out like a sponge, my friend, wring out every last drop.