Graduation

Tomorrow, my sister graduates from high school. My little sister, my baby sister, the youngest one in the family. I can't believe she is 18 and getting ready to go off to college. I am so worried about her, because I remember all the stupid decisions I made when I was first out on my own on a college campus. I got in with a party crowd and did rather poorly my first few semesters. Eventually, I learned from my mistakes and graduated from college with a 3.8 GPA, but I don't want her to have to go through that. She has been there for me through a lot of my idiotic spells, so my greatest wish is that she will learn from my mistakes. I want her to cherish all of her years in college, instead of regretting some of them. I want her to learn everything she can and become brilliant in her profession. I want her to stay away from drugs, alcohol, and late-night parties. I want her to study and be a good student. I want her to pass with flying colors and stand out.

I know that she says she never wants to make the same mistakes that I did, but once she is away from our parents on that campus, I am afraid that the temptation will start calling her. I am afraid that she will not be able to resist the call from friends to go out on the town, to go to strange houses and do stupid things, to take random trips in the middle of the night to unknown places. I want her to be safe and to make the best of this learning experience. But, most of all, I want her to have it better than I did.