Four months.

Four months is how long we have until graduation.

Four months until our lives change forever.

The short distance across the stage at graduation signifies the end of our daily journey together and the start of a new journey as individuals.

Some are ready to graduate and get on with their lives, while some are terrified of letting go of everything they know.

The end of high school quickly approaching is a little of both for me. Part of me is ready to see what life has in store for me as an individual, but the other part doesn’t want to let go of life as I know it now.

The last few months I haven’t allowed myself to think about what is coming next so I don’t get emotional. But the emotions are inevitable. My tears are going to roll down my cheeks despite my greatest efforts to stop them.

We’ve all made mistakes along the way and that’s okay, I know I have. It may not seem like it now, but our mistakes define who we are and who we are going to be.

Some of our decisions throughout the years have worked out well and some haven’t. As I’ve learned, that’s just how high school is. Mistakes are there for us to learn from, and if we don’t learn from them then we wouldn’t change.

I’ve learned when to fight for what’s important to me and when to let go of something even though it may mean the world to me. Often the best lessons come from our biggest hardships. Whether it be losing a best friend or an undecided dilemma that you are faced with, at every turn we must all make difficult decisions.

It wasn’t until I had to move on and let go of my “best friend” that I realized not all things are worth fighting for. I know it sounds horrible, but for me she wasn’t the hill that I was going to die on. And now I’m so much stronger and a much better person because I learned from her actions what I don’t want in a friend.

Through my four years in high school I’ve learned so much about myself and what is important to me.

It may seem like we are one big unit during high school, but we’re really not. We have to make our own decisions and let our lives play out the way they’re going to. Nobody has the same experiences in high school and that’s because we are all unique.

As much as I dislike the idea of my two closest friends and I going separate ways in a few short months, we will always be there for each other no matter what. I believe in the bonds we’ve built throughout the years and I believe that they will still be there 10 and 15 years down the road no matter what happens.

These thoughts hadn’t occurred to me until I asked a friend “how he sees my dedication in our friendship.” It may seem like a loaded question but I was just seeking help for a essay I needed to write for college. There’s college creeping into life again.

I’ve always known that I’m a strong and independent person, but the realization of how much can change in four short years hit. You can have all the self doubt in the world, but when one of your best friends answers your question in all honesty to help you with what is going to be the next step in life, there’s no better feeling in the world.