Graduating high school seems like a giant step, and the biggest one current seniors will face this year. However, our life changing moments will not begin for a few months. For me, it will be this August when I move to New York City for art school, turn 18, and begin living on my own. However, the gap between graduation and move-in day will seem like an endless stretch if you decide to waste it. This is the last summer that the Class of 2014 will have free of internships, summer courses, study abroad programs, and post-collegiate careers. Even if you are not yet a graduating senior, it’s approaching a lot faster than you can imagine. Here is my own personal guide to not wasting these three months.

Document it. Not only will writing out your summer be the best throwback in a few years, but it will also enhance your writing skills. There is a TON of writing in college, and two months of abstaining from that could be rough. Just writing two or three sentences could mean a lot to you in the future. I really wish I’d kept a journal throughout high school to remember weird adventures I’ve had (then again, maybe it’s best to forget that angsty stage of our lives).

Take your daily dosage of culture. Go to an art museum, or a play, or some kind of culturally enriching activity. See a baseball exhibit, whatever, just enjoy your last few months living 45 minutes from the cultural hub of the mid-atlantic. Reading the news every day would also come in handy. As an almost-official-contributor to society, understanding what’s going on around you is kind of a big deal.

Actually read. Or keep doing it if that’s your thing. I take AP Literature with most of my friends, and I can not count how many times one of them, in all their brilliant prodigal glory, have asked me what I thought of a book I’ve never read. I can’t imagine it will get any better in college, so this summer read all (or a few) of the books you feel like you should have read by now but never got the chance to actually do. A few on my list include “Macbeth,” by William Shakespeare, The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, and Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Reading novels about college is also a swell thought; a couple of my favorites include The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach and Light Years, by Tammar Stein.

Spend time with your friends. Whether your best friends are attending the same school as you or not, enjoy this capricious, fleeting freedom with them. Making a list of things you all want to do together (concerts, all day 80s movie marathon, whatever floats your boat) makes those inevitable days of boredom a bit more fun. Whether you have fifty or five friends that you’ll miss, hang out before you drown in thirty-page papers and midterms.

Clean out your rubbish. Having a yard sale to get rid of your old stuff not only eliminates the disarray of packing up for college, but gets you some easy cash for the Fall when you’re a broke freshman. Selling things to stores such as Plato’s Closet for cash is also a good idea, then donating whatever you can’t get rid of. Chances are, you won’t need or have room for a lot of your clothes, so getting rid of the unnecessary bulk of clothing early can make a world of difference. Your future is a bright, shiny, clean slate, and your closet should be too.

Say goodbye. Get a chance to visit all of your old favorite places. I’ve lived in the same house in the same neighborhood in Potomac Falls my entire life, so I know there are a few places I’ll miss. The library, Claude Moore Park, our family’s favorite sushi restaurant, the park on Kentwell are all places I’ll inevitably miss at some point after I move away (though I can’t imagine for a few years…). Saying goodbye to favorite teachers, friends, neighbors, and finally your parents will be hard but imagining the future makes it all worth it!

While I’ve droned on about making the most of this summer, be sure to waste a little time too. Never again will we be able to lay in our pajamas for a week straight eating and watch Netflix (sigh..) or be able to live spontaneously day after day. It’s kind of a big, overwhelming deal, but as we embark on the next chapters of our lives, everything will become a big, overwhelming deal. While our futures are ambiguous, one fact remains unvarnished: we will never forget our last free summer.