05/27/2026
Congratulations, Graduates!!!!!🎓 My advice for graduates (if you are going to college)and this is not ai, it’s just me, a mom of 5 who’s been thru it and still going thru it.
1) Buy a comfortable mattress topper for your dorm.
2) Don’t take an open drink from someone you don’t know.
3) Wash your bedding! Set up an alert on your calendar for a reminder. You’ll likely forget. If you don’t have time at least wash your pillow cases.
4) Buy a small plastic container or toiletries bag and make your own first aid/doctors office. Over the counter Pain relief, band aids, bug spray, sunscreen, allergy medication.. you get the idea.
5) If you are a packrat, you need only 1/4-1/2 of what you are about to pack up and move, especially if you are a days drive from home.
6) Get involved. I promise you’ll be a lot less lonely if you get to know some of the people going thru the same experience. Go to the events and “stupid” freshman socials, they are for you! Oh and Try the food. You are on the meal plan anyway you might as well give everything a chance at least once.
7) Don’t fall behind. Classes move SO fast so work ahead.
If you are NOT going to college:
1) Open a checking/savings immediately. Heck, even open a credit card. Start building your credit the moment you turn 18.
2) Build out your ideal day on a sheet of paper or in your phone. If you aren’t working, what does that looks like? If you are working, what does before or after work look like?
3) Find a mentor in your field. Find someone who’s willing and able to take you under your wing.
4) Be willing to work for less to gain experience. If your trade job should pay $35hr but you have to work for $22hr for an internship or learning, do it! It’s better than not having a job in your craft.
5) Beware of leaches - people who don’t have a plan and are mindlessly sucking the resources of another. Think of the “Show me your friends and I will show you your future” mentality. Oh wait they’re also called energy vampires!
6) Get some sleep. You’ll be tempted to stretch your nights and weekends beyond what your body is able to recover from. Water & Rest cures fatigue.
7) Network. Majority of careers, jobs, and business, in general, requires growth which means you should always be looking for someone to connect with.
If you are going to the military:
1) Write home as often as you can during basic even if it’s 3 sentences. Take a few stamps, couple note cards and few envelopes. You can even fill them out before you leave so it takes less time to send once you are there. (Parents, write every single day you can and keep it positive)
2) Try to wash/Keep your water bottle clean.
3) Get to know everyone directly around you. You’ll need each other more than you know.
4) If you are religious, keep god in your heart and in your mind. Talk to him whenever you need it. If you aren’t, keep whatever positive affirmation you need at the forefront to keep clarity.
5) Stay hydrated. Your body is going to go under an amazing transformation. Water is imperative.
6) Picture packages at graduation of basic at like $250-$300. Shirts and other keepsakes will also most likely be available for purchase.
7) THANK YOU 🇺🇸❤️🤍💙
For everyone: Write down your goals/dreams, like where you see yourself in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years etc., your goal can be something as simple as getting a drivers license to as adventurous as traveling to the moon., the world is yours!
Keep your oil changed in your car, find a physical activity that inspires you even if it’s taking a mindful walk, call home often and have at least 1 person you trust to have your location. What you do now may not be what you are doing when you grow old heck it may not even be what you are doing 2 years from now. It’s okay to not know what you want to be when you grow up. Busy doesn’t equal successful, and I learned that the hard way.
Listen to/ read the lyrics to the song “Everybody's Free” Song by Baz Luhrmann “Secret to Life” by Faith Hill “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield and that’s just to name a few. I am sure you can make an entire playlist. Now go out there and make the world a better place by leaving it a little better than you found it.
