Senior year is an odd one. You’re not quite an adult who is ready to live alone and pay bills and not rely on your parents, but in a few short months you’re going to have to be (if you’re going to college). It’s a very scary, yet very exciting transitional period. Everyone I’ve discussed this with seems to have the same feeling of just waiting. No matter what path you choose to take after high school, it’s likely that it involves some sort of big change.

Change is always something I’ve resented and avoided, but I’m actually fairly inspired by the concept of a fresh start. Everyone in this period of their life is about to receive an opportunity to be who they actually want to be. High school practically forces you to have a certain lifestyle surrounded by deadlines, attendance, grades, etc. While this aspect of life won’t necessarily change with college, what will change is that you get to study what you’re truly passionate about rather than just what we learn in high school. Things that actually interest you and that you find easy to work on because you enjoy it so much.

Realize, though, that this may not come to you right away. If you still don’t know what you want to major in or what you want to do with your life, don’t let the stigma and other people’s opinions get to you. Deadlines on things such as passion, interest, and happiness do not exist. These things come at times that you can’t control. If that means you take a gap year, live at home and save your money, or change your major 5 times, so be it. This period is about you and what you want to do with yourself and with life. The smartest thing to do would be to block out what others are doing and/or accomplishing, because there is no rush to get what you truly want in life.

Another thing I’m going to do to ensure that this is a complete fresh start is cleaning out my social media. After graduation, I plan on removing everyone from school that I’m not friends with from all social media outlets. This is obviously optional and will differ person to person, but the way I see it is that I’m never going to see these people ever again anyway, so why should I care about what they’re doing, where they are, etc? That may sound rude but it really is just about not holding onto the past and accepting that everything is about to change.

New things are coming for everyone graduating this year, and reality is about to hit. It’s almost time for our real lives to start, and while it’s frightening, everyone should look forward to discovering their passions and leading the life they’ve been dreaming about.