Sickeningly Liberal

Jun. 2, 2012 at 11:27pm with 107 notes

Reblogged from fortune-n-glory

Ten Parting Pieces of Advice for Seniors

Today was my last day with the seniors, as they move on to spend the last few days of their high school careers practicing how to walk across a stage. I’m not really the sentimental type when it comes to my job, but I did feel the need to share some brief parting pieces of advice with my seniors, those things I wish someone had told me when I was their age, before they head off into their idea of the “real world” - be it to college, the workforce, the military, or elsewhere:

Remember that credit cards are not free money.

Write things down. Your crazy experiences. Your funny moments. Your heartache. Your anger. A disturbing conversation you overhead from the frat boys behind you in Anthropology 101. Your mind is a trap at 18 and you remember everything. That starts to go away pretty quick into your adulthood. So, write it down.

Help. Is dad out there working in the garden this summer? Is mom changing your car’s oil for you? Is grandpa putting up a new deck? Pick up some pruners, the oil pan, or a hammer and go help them. Ask them questions about what they’re doing. See if they’ll let you help them with something that you had no interest in doing last summer. It’ll be awkward. You’ll feel weird because it’ll be the most you’ve talked to them in three years, but do it. You won’t regret it for a variety of reasons.

Become fluent in another language. You’re almost there anyway after three years of Spanish. Okay, okay… maybe not. I know you swore it off after your last final, but keep up on it. Don’t keep putting off the Spanish elective in college until “next semester” or you’ll never do it. Suck it up and do it. Download a Rosetta Stone to your iPod. Turn on Univision and make a drinking game out of it to see who is the best interpreter (when you’re 21, of course). The future job-hunting you will thank you.

Go places. Take every opportunity to travel that you can. Go on adventures. Stop at restaurants that aren’t Taco Bell. Eagerly offer to help your friend move out to Mobridge, South Dakota. Meet people. Eat weird foods. It’s okay if you gag. Take that study abroad, dang it, because those few extra thousand dollars are nothing compared to the experiences that you will have. Go out of your comfort zone, remembering that no one in these places you explore will ever see you again and it’s okay to embarrass yourselves.

Use condoms. Please.

Read one book each month. I know, you laugh. You’re graduating high school, why would you ever pick up a book again? Heck, you didn’t read most of them anyway. But it doesn’t have to be a big book. It can even have pictures and no one will yell at you. So, if you don’t have one, go get a library card and look around for a while. You’ll be surprised when they aren’t being assigned to you how many books will catch your eye - and the knowledge you’ll gain with each book you read is invaluable. Besides… reading is sexy.

Embrace your mistakes. You are going to screw up. You’re going to do unbelievably stupid things. For most of you, like it was for me, this will happen often. Don’t shy away from these mistakes. Own up to them. Learn from them. Then move on from them.

Remember, when your first big breakup comes, it won’t be the end of the world. It will feel like it. You’ll probably rip some of your hair out. Your friends will be sick of your crying. You’ll be disheveled, drinking expired milk out of the carton, and wondering how the world will ever go on. Just remember: it does. And you will too. Instead of moping around, get a gym membership. That metabolism just doesn’t work like it used to anyway. Better yet, go volunteer somewhere. Coach Special Olympics. Have some coffee at the senior home. Give tours to kids at the zoo. Not only will you feel better about yourself, you might even meet a cute dude or total babe. And cute dudes and total babes love people who volunteer.

Budget. Don’t be afraid to spend it, because you have to live a little, but be smart with your money. Remember: stopping at Starbucks before school or work will cost you $900 over the course of a year. Getting the cheap stuff at the convenience store will cost you $500 (even with those buy 8, get 1 free cards they give you). Brewing your own will cost you $150. Keep that lesson in mind for every aspect of where you’re allocating your hard-earned cash.

This is not a end-all list of advice that will lead young people to successful lives. Rather, it’s what I’ve learned along the way, a guy who was there not too long ago and wishes he knew then what he knows now.