Letter to the class of 2015

Editor’s note: The Gilroy Dispatch receive the following letter to the soon to be Gilroy High School seniors. Since many of the GHS class of 1982 are turning 50 this year, Lois Harrison composed a “short letter of what we hoped someone had told us before our senior year.” 
Dear junior class,
This is really all about you. Congratulations on making it this far. It is only fair that you receive pearls of GHS alumni wisdom as you finish your junior year. Your senior friends are out celebrating and listening to boring speeches in a few weeks. They already have enough advice. This is your time.
Members of the class of 2015, here are ten tidbits in advance of your senior year:
First: Be a kind senior. At your 20th class reunion, your Gilroy classmates will remember in sharp detail if you were a good listener or made them laugh. They won’t remember if you crushed the state Robotic League or wrestling. Make amends this year if you have been more naughty than nice. Befriend somebody you barely paid attention to in the last five years. You never know what may happen by that class reunion. The nice people do finish first.
Second: Carve out volunteer time for others. Do the real stuff that makes other people feel better. Walk your neighbor’s dog. Read to kids at the library. Pick up trash on Santa Teresa Blvd some nice Saturday morning with friends, and not for a fundraiser. Do it more than once. It is as your grandparents say, “character building.” It will make you feel needed, which is really important.
Third: Don’t waste time this year. The clock is tick tick ticking. Don’t stall on college applications, financial aid forms or job applications. Deadlines are not flexible in these types of things. If you don’t get the application submitted you lose out. It’s not worth the pain and suffering of doing a bad job with your ticket to the future.
Fourth:Consider post high school options far from Gilroy. For some of you, it may be the military, a job or college someplace east of the Sierras. Life gets bigger and bigger with every experience outside of your comfort zone. You are at the best age and have the most stamina to see the world. You can come home again.
Fifth: Take a tour of some colleges this summer. The best time to see a school is during the “off season” when lots of people (including the paid cheery tour guides) are gone.
Sixth: Keep cultivating what you love to do. If you like working on car engines, acting or writing code, pursue these passions through this next year. They are what make you interesting as a human being. mCollege admissions officers know when your heart is in what you say IS important to you. Passion doesn’t lie.
Seventh: DON’T make snap choices in your senior year that have high potential for changing your life permanently. No matter who pressures you. You already know what I’m talking about. Instagram is not always your friend.
Eighth: Change is inevitable. Don’t fight it. In the next 40 years, you will change jobs on average 15 times or more. You will likely switch careers and addresses several times. A year from now, you won’t be the same person. It’s ok to change your mind about what you want to do, who you hang out with and your next choice. (See number three first though)
Ninth: Thank your parents at least once. They have taken you through the last 16-17 years of your life. Next year gets nostalgic for them. Humor their weird little behaviors and annoyances. This is a big deal for them to launch you forward.
Tenth and most important: Be brave. Be yourself. You have to live in your own skin. Your senior year is all about assembling pieces together for the next phase of your life.
GHS class of 2015, know that we old people really do care about what happens to you. We want you to succeed. We know that you will make a difference to us, to Gilroy and to the world at large. You will. You better.
All the best to you next year.
Lois Harrison (GHS class of 1982) teaches at the University of Minnesota. She lives in St Paul, MN with her family.