Advice for HS Graduate

My advise would be..."even though you think you know it all, you don't. Listen to your parents, teachers, employers, pastor...they have all been in your shoes, learn from their experiences and mistakes. Some of the choices you make today will impact you and those you love for the rest of your life." Best of luck!

WHat I learned early on is that there is a lot of "politics" in high school and once you graduate, NONE of it matters. So be yourself REGARDLESS of what others may think...you will definately find out who your true friends are. But have fun, make good choices, and be kind to others. Has your daughter started learning money management? It seems many are pushed out the door into the real world with no clue how to deal with money. Particularly in college where you can get your first credit card without the parents knowledge. That is vital so they aren't in debt up to their eyeballs before the age of 21. And at that age, the debt doesn't have to be that much for it to seem like a ton of money. Just my 2 cents worth. I wish her the best of luck.

If you have a teacher you don't get along with or don't click well with, take some time to reflect why, and see what you can learn from the experience anyway--- even if you feel like you're not learning much History or Algebra from the person, there may be a life experience you can gain

Figure out a good balance of extra curricular activities-- don't over schedule and spread yourself too thin, but also make sure you are well rounded in which organizations/clubs/teams you join and what you do in your spare time

Go to every school sponsored event you can-- even if you don't have a date ----it's OK to go to the Homecoming dance with a group of girls-- don't stay home just because no one asked you to go---- and be sure to go to the Homecoming game even if you hate football!!------ OK, maybe times have changed-- I don't have a teenager-- but when I was in high school I was glad I went to those things so I don't have regrets of wondering what it would have been like

Take lots of pictures and keep a scrapbook and/or journal. A high school friend of mine recently sent me some letters I'd written to her that she kept for over 20 years. With all of the electronic email and texting, your daughter won't have anything like that to look back on unless she writes things down (or prints out emails to keep). It was so cool for me to read old letters and drum up memories of what was happening back then and who we had crushes on!

I would tell her that in as little as 5 years from now, everything you used to think is SO important, no longer has bearing. The people you thought were cool have turned out to be... not so cool. Your friends change. Everything changes.
Take pictures. Don't fret over looks. Trust me... you look better than you think you do. You'll see that in the pictures you look back on in 10 years. Life is JUST starting. There is no need to rush. Half the people 5-10 years later still don't know what they want to be when they grow up.
You won't have it all figured out at 30.
If you make a mistake... and you will... acknowledge it, apologize for it and try and learn from it, but don't dwell on it.
Keep an open mind and an open heart! Enjoy every moment possible.

M.,

Are there special women who have been involved in your daughters life? Ask them to write a letter of advice, encouragement for her future, to her. Then you can place all the letters into a binder with page protectors and present it to her when the time comes. I did this with my son in his junior year and he really appreciated the wise words of men he admired. Some of which were: his great grandfather, grandfather, some Sunday School teachers that he had always loved, school teachers he connected with, men in our church he looked up to, uncles he loved, etc... you get the idea. To have their own handwriting and personalized letters was priceless.
I believe though, that the best advice that I can give to your daughter is found in the Bible, in Matthew 22:37 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."
If we do these two commandments, we will know a life where there is treasure in Heaven stored up for us.
This is greater and more important than any earthly treasures that we can accumulate.
Take Care and God Bless You!
T.

Make sure she understands her own value as a person - my mother always said if you place a small price upon yourself, the world will not raise your price. And also realize that there are a lot of small, petty things that will go on in high school and even college life - but don't sweat the small stuff. Enjoy being herslef and enjoy what life is offering, challanges included.

I think this is a great idea! God bless you!
Here is advice that I would give myself if I could go back...

- Don't put college off because it's harder to go back. Take the summer and get back into it so you stay in routine. In today's society you HAVE TO HAVE a college degree to get a good job and make a living.

- Be yourself! Everyday changes us and molds us into who we will be tomorrow, don't be afraid to change and figure out who you are. The only thing constant in life is change.

- Enjoy these years because in the end they will have gone by faster than you realized. The stress of these HS years, although they seem insurmountable now, will actually seem like having a hang nail in comparison to later years.

I'm sure I will think of more so I'll keep your email and send them as I think of them.