Today was the last official day of school. I still have finals to give, and meetings to attend, and a classroom to clean, but the year is basically over. I was talking with one of my colleagues this morning; she teaches Senior English. She had her students do a writing assignment about ten things they wish they knew as freshman that might have helped them along the way. She decided to do her own list of things she wished she had been told when she graduated high school. Feeling inspired - and not wanting to grade that last set of research papers - I decided to do the same thing for the seniors in my AP classes. I came up with my list of 11 things that I wish I had been told fifteen years ago (I can't believe it either) when I received my diploma. Here they are:
1. People in college will not be all that impressed with what you did in high school.
2. College professors don't always take attendance, but they do expect you to know and be able to repeat on a test every word that came out of their mouths.
3. Life is expensive.
4. Flipping burgers is not beneath you.
5. Your parents are a lot smarter than you may think they are right now.
6. You will be judged by your appearance, so think twice before you get that tattoo or piercing.
7. Your metabolism will one day come to a grinding halt.
8. The only time you will hear from many of your closest friends from high school is when they update their Facebook pages.
9. Remember you are in college to get an education and a degree. It's not worth $40K per year just to go to frat parties.
10. Sometimes you have to "sell out" or "play the game," whether it's at work or school, so choose your battles carefully. Some hills aren't worth dying on.
11. The best advice given to me: "Keep following Jesus. His ways, not yours."
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