Nicole Lay: Goodbye Elementary School, Hello Middle School

I can't believe Felicia has officially graduated Elementary School! It seems like just yesterday I was dropping her off for her first day of kindergarten and now in a little over two months I will be dropping her off for her first day of Middle School. Felicia's fifth grade graduation was very bittersweet for me. While I am very proud of the beautiful, smart and headstrong young lady Felicia is growing into, I am sad that she is transitioning into adulthood and leaving childhood behind a little more each day. I know that once she starts Middle School it will happen even faster. I wanted to give Felicia some "motherly advice" for starting Sixth Grade so I sat down and thought about it. Here are five rules that I hope she will remember and use as often as possible.

1. Meet and keep the right friends. Don't just choose friends because they are cool, choose friends who are good people, who have goals for their lives, who do their best in school and who you can trust and make sure that they choose you for the same reason.

2. Be nice to everyone, always, even when it is not the cool thing to do. Always put yourself in someone else's shoes.

3. Always take the high road. There will be several roads to choose from along the road of life and there will always be a "right" road. Choose that one, no matter how hard it is sometimes. The choices you make now will determine the type of person you are becoming.

4. Be a trendsetter. Don't always follow the crowd. Be your own person and like what you like. Don't be afraid of what people will think of you. Remember that no matter how it may seem, everyone is concerned about what other people think about them, it is normal to care but don't let it control your freedom to be who you are. Don't do the cool thing just to fit in.

5. Always put your studies first. That is the reason you are in school. While it is easy to get wrapped up in what everyone is wearing, who likes who and who doesn't like who, you are in school for one reason and that is to learn as much as you can so that you have a successful life. Always keep your eye on the goal to be as successful as you can be in all that you do.