Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Soon, the tune of Pomp and Circumstance will be ringing in our ears. For some, it already has.

Please excuse that I didn’t get enough out of my valedictory speech in high school, so I feel I must use this space to impart words of wisdom to our young graduates.

At 18, there wasn’t much to say except feel as though we’d left the best years of our lives behind us. But we never realize just how great things are at the moment.

Ask any 8-year-old if they are excited about school, and most will tell you no.

They look forward to seeing friends and making memories, certainly, but the dreaded thought of writing essays or math homework jumps to the forefront of their minds.

One decade later and we just begin to realize how good we had it before saying goodbye.

All of those moments we spent laughing at the class clown, making a touchdown pass, kicking the ball into the goal, or cheering on teammates from the dugout are behind us.

But if there is something to learn from those experiences forever burned into our memory that can be applied to the years that follow, it’s that life — every moment of it — is precious.

In high school, this is something that you already know. But as an adult facing life’s constant interruptions — deadlines, bills and that nagging feeling you get when you have to fold laundry or cook supper but all you want to do is eat junk food and watch Netflix — it’s easy to forget.

Don’t take the little things for granted because life is precious.

Remember, as evidenced by the past 12 or more years of your life that have flown by, life is also fleeting.

As you prepare to say goodbye to friends and eagerly await what life holds for you next, savor every moment of it.