The four years that make up your time at the high school somehow feel like forever and a blink of the eye at the same time. While your freshman advisory may feel like a drag, one day it’ll suddenly strike you that you’re now a senior and it all went by in a blur. Put simply, the days are long but the years are short.

You may struggle and sometimes feel lost, yet I wish someone had told me sooner that difficulty is part of it. High school is both a time to savor and a time in which you will change profoundly. So before you blink and find yourself on the other side of it, let me break it down for you, year by year and lesson by lesson.

Freshman year: say yes to everything

You know nothing. But that’s okay. Neither does anyone else.

Despite it seeming difficult, put yourself out there. Join the clubs. Do the fall sport. Look for a community everywhere you can find it. Having a group of people you already feel close to, even before the school year begins in September, is one of the best ways you can enter your freshman year. But don’t be afraid to branch out from your middle school friends..

As you adjust to the new spaces and lifestyle, find your groove in balancing school and the rest of your life. Freshman year is a year to be social and embrace new experiences because everyone’s excited to meet new people.

Sophomore year: explore your boundaries

Now’s the time to dig deeper, pursue what truly excites you. Take the elective that sounds interesting even if your friends aren’t taking it. Explore outside of school, too, finding things you’d do even when no one’s watching, things that you could see yourself carrying with you long after graduation. These are the interests worth chasing. Build good and sustainable study habits in order to prepare yourself for even more challenging work in the future, but be sure not to lose yourself through procrastination and heaps of work. Sophomore year is a time that you will look back on fondly as a senior: a sweet spot between the awkwardness of being new and the pressure of junior year. Use that breathing room to make memories and figure out what you actually love to do.

Junior year: push yourself, know your limits

Now it’s real. Junior year is where you need to push yourself and sometimes step out of your comfort zone. However, you want to be able to thrive, not crash from too much stress.

Do what feels right, not just what looks good. Make sure you understand what your priorities are, as you may need to focus on some things more than others. For example, you may have to sacrifice an extracurricular or some free time after school for a more rigorous schedule. People will tell you junior year is the most important year for college, but more than anything, it’s also the most important year to take care of yourself.

For me, it’s running, getting outside to help clear my mind and putting everything back in perspective. For you, it might be lifting, drawing, journaling, playing an instrument or just sitting somewhere quiet and breathing. It doesn’t matter what it is. What matters most is that you don’t drop these hobbies and habits when you get busy, as that’s when you’ll need them most.

Senior year: you’ve earned it

Take the classes you want to take. Explore your interests more deeply.

The beginning of senior year is especially stressful, with college applications on top of a difficult course load. Getting a head start on your applications the spring and summer before is essential, but don’t burn out in August: the last thing you want is to show up in September dreading every class. Challenge yourself, but to the extent to which learning is fun, as the freedom of course selection you have as a senior is a rare gift you should take advantage of. Those who make the most of course selection choose classes with their genuine interests in mind, not just what looks impressive.

Finally, look up, look around you. You’ve come so far. Savor the people next to you; your classmates, your teachers, your coaches and the closest of friends. You worked hard to get here. Let yourself feel that.

High school isn’t just a checklist. It isn’t just a place where you should let your mind glaze over the passing days as if everything is routine. So many remain busy waiting for high school to be over that they forget to actually live it. High school is a place of immaturity and independence, of mistakes and growth, of figuring out who you are and who you want to be. So take it seriously. Have fun with it. Take a deep breath and appreciate what’s around you. And for the love of everything, be yourself. It will be over before you know it, and you’ll thank me later.