Hope Dies

I was thinking today, GRADUATION is in  about 3 months.  That's the end of my high school career and on to life in this great, wonderful, and colorful word that "experts" call College/University.  For us?  It's freedom, a new life, new friends, and lifestyle changes; getting rid of the norm.  5 months until we move ourselves into that tiny living space with a roommate.  5 months until we have to learn the new rules of life and how to survive without the constant watch of parents.  So what do we do?  3 months to go and we lose all hope and motivation.  Senioritis, the deadly disease that it is, kicks in and even the most passionate and A+ students learn a new word: apathy.  It becomes the center of life for a 2nd semester senior.  Go as any Senior you know "How are you?"  They will, without a doubt, reply with "I'm tired" or some variation of it.  Is this what the "glory days" have come to?  Seems we all had the thought that our senior year would hold easy classes, no work, all play, and ridiculous amounts of partying with no consequences.  It's not true.

I heard a story in the news about a girl who passed away right before her senior year.  Could you imagine this?  She was out with friends at a party, typical Saturday night thing, someone threw a brick through the car window and hits her.  The guys she was in the car with were too out of their minds to take her to the hospital and her last words were "Please, please, don't let me die."  And then she was gone.

Lots of words can be used to describe your senior year; fun, stupid, annoying, hard, crazy, ambitious, passionate, ridiculous, insane; all of these, but apathy should not be one of them.  This lack of caring is what killed this girl.  Something simple as a word can be the deciding factor in life or death.  This might be going out on a limb and a far stretch, but think about this before you put the word into your life.  You don't want to be the murderer of a perfectly wonderful life ahead.  She doesn't even get the chance to say "Graduation is 3 months away! I'm going to USC in 5 months! I wonder what classes I'll have or who my roomie is going to be?"

3 months. 3 mere months.  It might be about time to put on our cleats and get a good grip on the field we've been playing for the past 3 and a half years.  Bunker down and get ready for the ride of your life, because these last months are going to be an emotional roller coaster, a trip to hell and back, and a one way trip to either failure or success.  Care.  Care about what's going on and what is happening, because I'm sure if in a moment your life was ripped from your grasp and control, there won't be anything you miss more.

3 months.  Like a death certificate, like a final notice of eviction.  It's a deafening sound now, isn't it?