Advice to high school seniors

As students in our area are graduating from high school, I think of the things I wish I had known when I graduated high school and went off to college. Treasure your friends. I did keep in touch with some of my close high school friends for a while. It has been more difficult since my own children became teenagers. But there were some close friends I completely lost touch with after high school or after they graduated high school the following year. I wish I had made more of an effort to remain friends with them.

Make time for your parents. When I started my freshman year at Hardin-Simmons, I was nervous and excited about meeting my roommate and moving in. My parents were there to help me move in, of course, but as soon as we got everything in and sat around a little bit, I was ready for them to leave. It wasn’t that I didn’t want them around, but I was ready to start talking to and getting to know the person I would be living with for at least a semester.

My Mom later told me they had wanted to stay with me a while and it made her kind of sad that I was rushing them out of there. I am their oldest, so it was hard for them to let me go. Now that I look back and have experienced sending off my oldest to college, I wish I had not rushed them off.

Don’t get a credit card. By the time I started college, I had worked all summer at a church camp and then always had a part-time job while in school. I thought because I was working and going to school and was an adult, I needed a credit card and should use it. They are very easy to get, and credit card companies target college students to get them hooked as young as possible.

The first thing I bought was a pair of black Nike high tops for my intramural basketball games. I took forever paying them off, and they probably cost me two or three times the amount they would have cost me if I had just bought them outright, and of course I really didn’t need them. Take Dave Ramsey’s advice and start young learning to live within your means. Don’t get into debt too quickly or not at all. You and your spouse will appreciate it as you get older.

You don’t have to have a boyfriend/girlfriend to be complete. My younger sister met her husband in high school and dated him while we were in college. I wanted to have a special someone too. Although I didn’t have a boyfriend until later in my sophomore year, before then there were times I was obsessed with finding a serious boyfriend when I could have enjoyed my friends more.

Don’t get me wrong. I did have a lot of fun spending time with my friends and getting involved with college organizations, going to plays and sporting events on campus, just running around town going to the Mall and Toys R Us, roller-blading, and playing intramural sports, but I probably would have enjoyed all of that more if I had thought less about finding a significant other.

I can remember one time specifically when my sister was then married, my cousin/roommate had gone home to visit her parents, and my best friend was out of town with her boyfriend. I was in our apartment all alone and got so depressed. I should have enjoyed that time alone because I haven’t had that much time alone since.

One thing I did do right most of the time was I lived in the moment. I relished in what was happening at the time. Although I like to talk, I could be quiet sometimes and just watch and listen to everyone and enjoy them. I didn’t get in a hurry (which did drive some people crazy). I took pictures and kept them and made scrapbooks. I can remember a lot of good times because of it. Going to high school and all that goes with it, graduating with my closest friends, and then going to college to make new close friends are good times you want to always remember. I enjoy my life and am happy where I’m at now, but I am grateful I have lots of good memories I can share and reflect on of those old days of being young with my friends at the center of my life. I can look back and remember those times like they happened last week, and I can remember and smile.