Post High School Honeymoon Phase

So now that high school is over my life has completely changed, full 180 degree flip. Not really. Summer is here and everything is pretty much the same, apart from the fact that I don't have any summer homework to stress over. Now I have pre-matriculation paperwork to stress over. But I would choose that over summer homework any day!

Right now I'm on that post honeymoon phase - every day feels like a Saturday, and that's awesome! There ARE no Mondays, only Fundays. Except sometimes I still get reality checks when I have to wake up at 7:30 to take my brother to school, but now that he's out for his summer break there are no worries!

During this honeymoon I've been reflecting over all of the sweetness of high school and over all of the future awesomeness of college. It's true what people say, high school does go by quicker than you think. One second you're an inexperienced little freshman at freshman stampede. And next thing you know, you're impatiently waiting next to your walking buddy ready to walk out into the convention center for your graduation (it was great walking next to you Cameron PIVOT - I talked to him maybe 4 times throughout high school, nonetheless he had great pace, really stayed in rhythm).

Let's recap.

Freshman year comes in close second in the race between which high school year was my best. Senior year beats it. (BTW I have Pandora playing in the background and "Beat It" by Michael Jackson is playing as I write this. So, pun intended.) Freshman year was filled with stress free nights, happiness, and butterflies. HA! So much for that. I believe I also had a pet bunny named Snowball during that year - if you like small fluffy things, there's that for you. I had to give him away because he humped me every time I cleaned his cage. He was just getting too sexually active for me. He needed girl bunnies. So he's in a better place now, filled with every girl bunny he can ever imagine. Back to my freshman year. I played volleyball that year, they called me "soft fingers" because I set that ball up like it was no one's business - no one called me that. That year was also the year I met some of the closest friends I have today, and the year I began to lose some of the closest friends I thought I had. That happens. Overall, freshman year was fun, carefree, and a time when I had to make a decision between sports and academics. I chose academics, which turned out for the best. Although my 4 am homework sessions will tell you otherwise.
Sophomore year was...well I don't really know what it was. It's all a blur. All I can remember is that Ms. Grindle fed us her version of diabetes in a bowl which was three, or four, or five scoops of ice cream and pretty much any topping you could imagine topped on top of each other. It was amazing. I probably went into a food coma and that's why I can't remember sophomore year.

Here's some of that diabetes. And there's Ms. Grindle in the background, such a foxy lady.

And this is me eating all of that deliciousness in all of its glory.

Junior year was the year where many of the traditions or insiders I have with my friends today were born. I joined AcDec (Academic Decathlon - AcaDeca is just plain wrong!) and created an even stronger bond with my friends in the process. This was a year of self discovery, I began to realize that there was a life after high school and that I had to start preparing myself for that life. With that in mind, I armed myself with higher standards, stronger confidence, and got my priorities in check. So after I went through all this "self discovery" I decided that since the inside was changing - so should the outside! And so that summer I chopped all of my hair off, got some bright red lipstick and called it a day! What I didn't realize was that that pixie did not work with my thick hair and that it would soon grow out into a mullet (fun times). But who cares? It was my last summer of high school..

This was some of my AcDec team my senior year. So fun! So artsy..

Chopping my hair off was sort of symbolic for me. Because my hair had always been my comfort blanket. I took pride in it and I used it to sort of "speak" for me. But hair can't do that. And so I chopped that sucker off. In my mind, having something that I had to depended on was out of the question. It's like that quote from 500 Days of Summer, "...she'd only loved two things. The first was her long dark hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and feel nothing."

Now senior year. Oh senior year was amazing. It actually felt like I was pushing a boulder up a hill that would end up falling back down at the end of the day - and I would repeat the strenuous journey over again the next day. Oh Sisyphus is truly my spirit animal. Senior year was hell, but it was also such a beautiful experience. Whoever said senior year was the year to relax and slack off needs a punch in the face. Or a high school degree because he probably never received one. You can't really slack off in 8 AP classes - let me refresh that, you CAN slack off, but you really shouldn't because honey, that does not look cute in your college application, just saying. So apart from the hell of Chemistry and Calculus (the deadly C's) I loved senior year. I created such beautiful friendships, I met teachers who have impacted me in ways that not even I can put into words (Ms. Bagley, I'm talking to you), I spent endless hours working towards competitions with amazing teammates, and I made so many unforgettable memories with my friends. Graduation came and went. Being Salutatorian and being able to share the stage with my best friend Nalleli was amazing. The icing on top of the cake. Or is it the cherry on top of the cupcake? I was never good at these sayings..

Oh, I will never forget those meaningless car rides with her where we laughed so much we almost peed our pants - ALMOST. Momma doesn't allow pee on her black leather seats. Oh poor Daniel, his first experience with us was when we were giving him a ride to school and ended up trying to show him one of our "steak out houses". I say "trying" because we just ended up buying Starbucks and driving all the way to Rockwall because Nalleli never told me to turn, so I kept driving. I don't do directions, I do drive. Needless to say, Daniel never rode in my car ever again.

That one time I almost lost my mind with Chemistry and had to regain it with a sugar high. A Mexican sugar high.

You might say, oh what an adorable picture of Cecy during her last pep rally. But you would be wrong. This is actually a picture of Austyn. I made Nalleli take it, because she's a true friend. Austyn, if you're reading this, heeeey. ;)

I love these guys. That's it.

Can you tell I love my AcDec team? Well, I do.

And these are my girls. My sweet girls who I will miss dearly when I go off to college. My sweet girls who I will finish this summer bucketlist with.

This was the day that changed everything for me. My dream, come true. Proud Dartmouth '18 here.

This is Ms. Bagley. This woman is awesome. So strong, so funny, so crazy, so independent, such passion, such intelligence, such a warm heart, and such a beautiful soul.

Oh, here's a sketch of our butts at prom. Yea, that's pretty much us.

And these are the coolest seniors you will ever see. Done. Stop looking.

Oh, you know, Nalleli, me, and our bff Dr. Henrie (our superintendent).

With all of my heart, I know all of these wishes, hopes, and goals will become a reality.

The most beautiful surprise I have ever received. My Jasmine coming home to see us graduate.

I started it with you, and I finished it with you. Love ya babe.

Advice for all of you in high school:

• Don't slack, nope not even freshman year. Your GPA counts from the first piece of classwork that you do for your freshmen BIM class till the last project you present for your AP English 4 class. And just in case you were wondering, no, you CAN'T fix your GPA during your senior year. Honey, if you're 254 out of 411 by your first semester of senior year, good luck, because everyone is trying to do the exact same thing you're trying to do - raise that rank. That should be the senior motto. 
• Don't focus on the things that aren't important. That means, boys/girls that are just there to waste your time. (Oh, you're going to do a long distance thing throughout college? Right. You'll dump them when you come back for thanksgiving break.)  That means trying to fit in. That popular group will get you nowhere, except maybe to your house drunk, and that's if they have any inkling of responsibility. If you feel like you have to change in order to fit in to your group, it's not the group you should be hanging around with. Your friends should make you feel loved and accepted no matter what. Stop trying to party every night. Again, unless you're some freak of nature like Kevin Marnell who partied through high school and graduated as Valedictorian, all that partying will only get you to a minimum wage job after high school. "Making that money", making that money is right, making that money at McDonald's.
• Find friends who make you better. Those people that will encourage you to be a better person. The kind of people who will offer you healthy competition and who believe in you.
• Coffee meet [insert your name here], [insert your name here] meet coffee. Cheers.
• Cry if you need to. I know I did. Once. I had plenty of break downs, but I always took a deep breath and went back to what I knew would only benefit me in the future.
• Don't settle for less than you're worth. Take your dang ACTs and SATs. Get your dang letters of recommendation. Apply to dang college. Apply to dang FAFSA or TASFA, whatever, just do it! Apply to the dang scholarships. You will reap what you harvest. If you want something, reach for it, because trust me, it isn't going to come knocking at your door. Be the catalyst.
• Join clubs, join organizations, participate, compete, and enjoy.
• Volunteer. Not only will you need it for college and scholarship applications, but you will gain this sweet little monster in your tummy. His name is grateful, also known as appreciation. Trust me, it's worth it. You'll want to keep doing it.
• Don't get pregnant. Don't get someone pregnant.
• Don't get an STD. Don't give someone an STD.
• But most of all, just have fun. It's really not all that horrible. You'll finish and realize that you can barely even remember it. So make lots of memories, take lots of pictures, and have lots of fun.

And now, on to the next four unforgettable years..