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The end of high school can be a bittersweet time for both students and their parents.

You’ve come such a long way and have so much to look forward to in just a few short months. As high school ends and college draws near, you’ll likely experience a range of emotions.

Exhaustion 

It’s been a long year, hasn’t it? Between college admissions season, standardized tests, challenging courses, extracurricular activities and senior year events, you may not have had a moment to catch your breath. As you reach the end, it’s all catching up with you, and you realize that you could really use some downtime!

Regrets 

You’ll have a few. Whether it’s classes you never got to take, people you waited too long to become friends with or that you didn’t do your best when you first got to high school, there will be things you wish you did differently. Although you can’t go back, you can reflect on the lessons learned and memories made.

Joy 

Turning in that last paper will be a great feeling. Taking the last final is pretty liberating as well. The happiness you feel is the weight of all those textbooks you’ve been studying being taken off your shoulders.

Nostalgia 

As you enjoy all the “lasts” and get to soak it all in, you’re going to start to get nostalgic. You might even miss the foul-smelling cafeteria, first-period gym and that history teacher with the grueling pop quizzes. Moms and dads will also get weepy thinking about how their little baby is suddenly graduating high school. Those four years sure did fly by, didn’t they? As much as you’re looking forward to a new chapter, part of you probably wishes you could start again from the beginning.

Pride 

Before you know it, you’ll be walking on stage to accept your diploma, an achievement that shouldn’t be taken for granted. You may even snag a few honors or awards. You’ve worked hard to get here, so enjoy the moment.

Anxiety 

Once the end is finally here, that means a whole new beginning looms ahead, and sometimes that’s terrifying. Parents might be worried that they didn’t prepare you well enough to leave their nest. And you might be frightened about moving to a place where you don’t know anyone. Just remember that every soon-to-be freshman is probably feeling the same thing as you, and it wasn’t too long ago that you had the same anxious feelings when you started high school. You survived back then, and you’ll make it through those first months of college, too.

Excitement 

Once the pomp and circumstance is all finished, you’ll have a whole summer to get ready for and imagine all of the possibilities that college will bring. Are you getting excited? You should be. The adventure that is college life awaits!