MAMA I MADE IT!

As of May 26, 2016, I can no longer consider myself a high school student because I officially graduated! WOOHOO *party horn emoji* I remember at the beginning of my freshman year, my mom made a comment to me about how quickly the four years would go by and at the time, I didn't believe her, but like always—she was right.



If I had to state the top 5 things I learned in high school it would be this:

1. Manage your time I remember the many late nights doing homework that could have been prevented if I had started when I got home. Trust me, Netflix isn't going anywhere.

2. Choose your friends wisely I am very fortunate to have surrounded myself with good-hearted people and I know that my high school experience wouldn't have been the same without them.You want to find people where your true self can shine and they will be there for you no matter what.

3. You don't always have to go to your dream school This one took me awhile to acknowledge. Although I was accepted into my dream school, I unfortunately was unable to attend due to financial reasons and it took me a long time to get over that. However, I realize now that the school I will be attending is the best option and that everything ends up as it should be.

4. Don't stress so much I really emphasized on this statement the second semester of my senior year. I had spent the past three and a half years pulling my hair out over little things and when I finally let go, I could tell that I became much happier. But, that doesn't give you the excuse to not take your academics seriously. You are going to school to get an education and to learn, which I feel people sometimes forget about. 

5. Appreciate all of the little moments The four years go by faster than you expect so it's important to take everything in and remember the little moments spent with your friends, but more importantly, your family. For those that are planning to go away for college, this is crucial because the days spent seeing your loved ones everyday are counting down so you don't want to forget it all.

Hope those tips help! It has been a little over a week since my graduation and I still feel like I have to show up to school the next day because I cannot believe how fast my high school career went. At times, I couldn't wait to graduate (aka all of junior year) but now that I am graduated it feels kind of weird to no longer have Troy High School as my second home...

Sorry for that sappy moment, but I did want to give a big congratulations to all those who are graduating/have graduated this year, whether it is from high school or college or even middle school, we made it! It's crazy to think how we are all embarking on the next step in our journey called life and it is so refreshing to think that we are technically getting a fresh start. I am really looking forward to college and the adventures that await! The best part is, I will be accomplishing one of my greatest goals in the fall—yes, I will be moving to New York! It has been my dream since I was in middle school to one day live in the Empire State, heck it's even in my bio of this blog, but I will finally be able to say that I live in New York come August. I am excited to see what Hofstra University has in store for me, but I know that a piece of me will always be here in California <3

So below I have photos from a little photoshoot that my friends and I did before our Senior Reflections night, the best part is we went to the same park that we did our "End of Junior Year" photoshoot, which you can check out here! The logic behind it was that we would go back to where we began except the staircase we originally did the shoot at had horrible lighting so we had to take pictures on a different staircase. I kind of like that though because we were at the same location as we were a year ago, but we are kind of different now - older, wiser, less stressed - so it seems fitting that we upgraded to a new staircase :-) I also included photos from my graduation night! Enjoy!

Sage Green Dress / Cognac Strappy Heels - Lulu's

As I finally catch my breath after a whirlwind of a week - WTM concert (post coming soon!) and multiple graduation parties, I can finally start planning out my summer and the exciting things I have in store for this blog! I will have two more posts for you by the end of this week so keep an eye out for those! In the mean time, I just wanted to thank all of my family and friends who have supported me these past 12 years in all of my academic adventures. I couldn't have done it without them! 

Until next time...