Opinion: Enjoy the present, but look forward to the next step, too

I still remember the feelings I had around this time of year when I was a senior in high school. With only one semester remaining before I’d be going out into the world alone, I felt such a sense of impatience to move to that next part of my life.

Probably the most commonly heard phrase for me during those days was “Enjoy it now, you’ll miss these days when you’re gone.”

So many of the people around me remembered the loss and sadness they felt upon leaving high school. Graduation was bittersweet for them, and they were certain that it would be for me as well.

And so I took their advice, doing as much as I could within my high school in my final semester. I wanted to go to games, hang out with my classmates and participate in my activities to the fullest. I wanted to make memories that I could look back on when my kids were seniors so that I too could say “Enjoy it now, you’ll miss these days when you’re gone.”

Because I tried so hard to throw myself into my high school community, I felt oddly upset when I did not experience that bittersweet feeling. I graduated feeling nothing but relief and excitement for the future. Leaving high school was sweet, and I had no sadness upon doing so.

For my entire public school career, I hated being at school. I loved learning, but I hated the way my classmates treated me, and I always felt that I was not learning what I would like to be. I was an awkward child, and it was frustrating to be forced to interact with people I had nothing in common with, and who so obviously did not like me.

This was probably why leaving high school was such a relief for me. I was excited to start college, where everyone wanted to be there and I wasn’t forced to take pointless standardized tests that did nothing to further my education.

There are probably many high school seniors now that feel the way I do. It is hard to be in a situation where you feel that you must have missed out. Otherwise, why is leaving high school not harder? Why are your peers so sad, while you feel nothing of the sort?

The answer is that some of us are just meant to blossom at a different stage. In high school, I was shy, withdrawn and had very little school pride. Now that I am in college, I have been active in the campus community. I have finally learned to speak and socialize, and I love my school.

For some people, high school is the period of life in which they meet their best friends, find their passions and have some of the greatest times of their lives. For others, those things do not happen until later.

So, to those seniors who are approaching their graduation date, I offer my advice. Do not feel that you must have huge, meaningful experiences now. You are not required to miss high school after it’s over. You are not odd if you don’t feel an attachment to your high school years.

Think about the fact that you are quite literally about to start your life. You are about to become an adult, choose a life path and become an independent human. Why would it not make sense that you have not yet experienced the best times of your life?

This upcoming semester, take the time to decide on your next step. Don’t feel obligated to be excessively active as a student if that’s not what you want to do. Take this time to think about the future, not dwell on all the past memories that you could’ve or should’ve had.

I can assure you that you are not running out of time to experience the big things. Whether you go to college or start working right away, you will be experiencing a whole new world of possibilities.

Be excited for those possibilities and know that they will lead to the best moments of your life. Do not fret when people say, “Enjoy it now, you’ll miss these days when they’re gone.”

Maybe you won’t, and that is perfectly fine as well.

Briana Beaudoin is a sophomore at Eastern New Mexico University. Contact her at: [email protected]