Congrats on almost finishing elementary school and entering the phase of life that will be hard and easy at the same time. It’s going to be new but similar to what you’re used to and very eventful. This phase in life is also known as middle school. 

I'll just start with the basics of life right now. You will go through puberty. Ladies, don't think you're going through depression just because your periods give you mood swings. Gentlemen, please don't think you're so cool just because you grew a whole inch and a half over winter break, you're not that special. Everyone, please try to control yourselves and yet have fun at the same time. Go crazy, go stupid, be weird, have fun even if others look at you funny, because this is the time when you'll realize that you won't care about strangers as much as before. But don't be so crazy and don't be so stupid that you surround yourself with toxic people and start your puberty-influenced life in the wrong direction. You'll understand what I mean when you begin to make a few more decisions and have a few more mood loops. 

Starting from third grade, when bigger projects were assigned, I would always procrastinate. For many of them, my mom basically did the project for me the day before it was due. This carried on for most big projects until sixth grade. In middle school, I changed and became more independent, because that’s just something you have to do. I became that girl that finishes her work the day it’s assigned while 90% of the class is still reading the directions. I became the girl that was known to never procrastinate or work slowly, just by nature.

You can’t just depend on your mom to stay up until 4 in the morning finishing your project when she has a million other better things to do with her time. If you’re like that in elementary and middle school, what’s it gonna be like in high school? What about when you leave for college or try to live an independent life? It won’t work out.

In middle school, they might give more or less homework than now, and they may be stricter. I say might cause every personality and school system is different. They might not be as nice, and they definitely won’t wait for you all to quiet down 20 minutes after class has started. They won’t give you a month and a half to finish a stupid poster. Due dates are shortened, but the expectations are just as high. It’s hard to get used to this new protocol, and that’s one of the hardest transitions between elementary and middle school. But more times than not, you’ll end up complaining to an adult about it and get an answer like, “So what? Deal with it. That’s life.”

But, you actually will be fine. By the middle of the year, you’ll be used to everything. By the end of the year, when you reflect on the start of middle school, you’ll be like, “What the heck was I worried about? It’s all good now.”  There’s no point in worrying about things that aren’t worth the time you take to be worried. Such as an A minus, or an upcoming huge project that’s 60% of your trimester’s grade. (By the way, an A minus isn’t a failure. It may seem like that, since most of us have grown up here in the Bay Area. That’s what I hate about here. The average grade isn’t a C like every normal school, but a 99 percent.)

But there’s also no point in not being ready for a change. Get your act together, if you need to, change your habits so that you can do well in middle school, and don’t be too stressed out about it. Middle school will definitely not be the hardest, nor the worst time of your life.