These last four years of my life have been a blast. The problem is ... well, that is the problem. I spent all my days trying to impress people and be the class clown. It was real fun, but now I regret every minute of it. Not getting the education that was available to me was without a doubt the biggest mistake of my life. I took everything for granted and didn’t care enough to cherish the great times I did have. If you don’t think grades are important to get into college, you’re crazy. I lost out on so many scholarships because I didn’t take school seriously. It all ends one day, trust me. My day is coming soon and I’ve never been so scared.

You only have four years of high school. That’s it, four years. Don’t rush through because you will have more than four years to play around after high school. It didn’t really matter whether I went to school or not, and that was another huge mistake. After you miss so many days, there’s no way to catch up, no matter how hard you want to. All I did all day was care what people were doing in other places. Also, don’t ever think that your teachers don’t care about you. I had a couple who have changed my life even if it doesn’t show on my report card.

I have gone to public schools my entire life. That whole time I was offered an education, a free ride through life, and I didn’t take advantage of it! I was more interested in what was going on that weekend. I am starting to realize how dumb I was to reject the opportunity of a lifetime.

The memories and friends you have in high school will stay with you no matter how much you regret them. There were things at school that I skipped because I was “tired.” Because of those decisions I am not in my senior class picture or yearbook. I was also a pretty good athlete, I even set a couple records, but since my GPA was so low, I lost every offer any coach would give me. I made another big mistake by not taking the ACT. It’s now the end of the school year and I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. It’s too late to register for college. I just hope nobody else follows the path I’m on.

I wish I could have participated in more activities with my class. If I could do it again, the first thing I would do is come to school every day. I also would start doing what I was supposed to do in sixth grade. I’d like to apologize to all the teachers whose time I’ve wasted. If anybody does read this, all I want you to do is look at the title. Don’t be where I am when it comes time to graduate. Make sure you’re going to graduate. Do what you’re supposed to, and life will be a lot easier.