Currently, I am knee deep in college brochures.  It’s hard not to be totally enthralled with my future.  A mere year and a half left for the Class of 2017 until we all go our separate ways. We will each pave our own path. College and the thought of being away from home has consumed my thoughts as of late. I often think about the grades I get in school now and the impact they have on my future: how well I do on the SAT, what college I get into, what job I will receive post graduate school. While it is good to be driven and focused, letting your uncertain future consume your thoughts is not.  

For as long as I can remember, I have always looked longingly to the future. I had my eyes focused on things such as my tenth birthday because then I would finally be double digits.  My 13th birthday because then I would finally be a teenager.  It was always something more. Why can’t what we have now be enough?

Cherish the time you have now. After all, high school is an experience for which you will receive only once. When you’re grown up and in your successful job, you will reminisce about high school and hopefully remember the good times.  The time when you dressed up in a pink tutu for the “pink out” football game.  The time when you stayed up much too late on a Friday night. The time when you went on your first date and were terribly nervous.  The time when you snuck out of your house to go to that party. In order to reflect upon such things, you must first have experienced them. While studying is a necessity, don’t let that be the only way you spend your weekend. Enjoy this time that you still live at home.

I must remind myself to live in the present. To truly appreciate every opportunity I am presented with today.  It is so fun to think about what my future dorm room will look like and the new friends I will make while at college.  But remember, there are more important things to worry about today (such as the SAT).  Plan for the future, but live in the present; because high school, while very special, is a small piece which makes up a much grander masterpiece.