Bittersweet summer ahead for graduates

Most people love to look back and tell you how much fun they had their senior year and all the memories they made with their friends. 

However, no one prepares you for the hard reality of what comes after you graduate. 

Seniors have gone through all the work to apply for colleges and then pick the college or career they want to pursue, but no one talks about how much work it takes to be ready for this next step in life. 

Even TV shows and movies don’t do at least one scene that shows how to prepare for college or what the summer before college is like. 

It’s like no one wants to talk about the next step in life: preparing to move into a new place and leaving the home in which you grew up. This experience is different for everyone, but for me it’s a hard one. 

When deciding where I wanted to go to college, I knew I wanted to play collegiate soccer. Where I was going to spend the next four years of my life needed to feel like home. It needed to be a place where I felt safe and where I could see myself living for the next part of my life, while also allowing me to play soccer and pursue the career I want. 

The college I chose, and where I feel like God has led me, is in West Virginia. I made this decision because it’s in a place where my family and I felt I would thrive in and feel the most at home. 

While I am excited, it isn’t the closest place to where I grew up. 

Trying to find things that make this next adventure feel like home isn’t easy. 

An easy way to do this is by packing things that you love. For example, I love getting all wrapped up in blankets with a good snack and watching a TV series on a rainy day. When that time comes in my new home in West Virginia, picking out the right blankets and buying the right snacks will be a big help to make me feel more at home even when I am so far away. 

Something else I find helpful is having a list of things I can check off to know I am fully prepared for my next adventure. This also gives me time to shop with my friends and family to help make memories with them before I leave. 

The hardest part about preparing for the next step in life, especially for me, is mentally preparing to start your next journey without the people who have been there for you the longest. 

Your family, whether you want to admit it or not, are the only people there for you through thick or thin. Going into the next part of your life means starting to make your own path and learning from your mistakes without your family helping and guiding you. 

Going away from home means having my own freedom. This freedom allows me to take the next step at my own risk and in my own timing. This is the hardest part for me because my family is who I turn to when I need advice or comfort. 

To help me transition from having them all the time, whenever I want, to only being able to see them a few times during my time at college, this summer I am soaking up all the time with my family and making last-minute memories I can take with me to college. Same with friends because even though I will be far away, it doesn’t mean every relationship I have made I am just going to throw away since I am leaving. 

It’s not easy to move away, and I know there is FaceTime and messages, which are helpful, but they are not the same. The people who are close to me in my life have helped shape the person I am today.

This summer is about celebrating all I have accomplished and making memories I can cherish while I am on a new path in life with the people that have helped me get to where I am today. The summer before college is a fun one, but it’s also a time to prepare for the journey ahead. While the adventure is fun, the preparation is the most important part.