Looking back at my high school years, there are some things that I would love to change and some things that I would not change for the world. While high school can be great, it can also be very difficult at the same time. It's the place where you get the chance to learn who you really are. If I could go back in time, here are a few things I would like to tell myself.

1. Don't take these four years for granted. Later on, you are going to wish you could relive them.

2. Don't worry too much about how you look. If you don't put makeup on or do you hair one day, I promise you no one will notice.

3. Cherish the friends you make because soon you will all be heading off to college and won't see each other very often.

4. Don't freak out about the SAT or ACT. Study for them, but don't give yourself too much anxiety about them. You will end up at the college you are meant to go to.

5. Spend time with your parents. Soon you will be in college, and you won't spend as much time with them as you used to. They will miss you more than you know.

6. Don't care what other people think about you. Be confident. Do what makes you happy. This may seem hard, but you don't need to impress anyone other than yourself.

7. Savor the free time you have at night to watch TV and hang out with friends because you will have far less of that in college.

8. It is OK to not be OK. Sometimes school and life are great, and other times they are not. Just take it as it comes and remember you don't always have to be OK every second of every day.

9. Don't worry about grades too much. I remember the memories I made in high school more than the grades I got on tests. You may think one bad grade is terrible, but I promise you that you won't remember it years later.

10. Appreciate the little things. Appreciate the things that happen day to day that you might otherwise take for granted.

11. Recognize the lessons you have learned. Every mistake you make teaches you something.

12. Even when you think the whole world is against you, there is always someone there for you. Most of the time, all you have to do is ask.

13. It will take time to find your true friends. Many people don't find a solid friend group until later on in their high school years. So don't panic because you'll end up where you belong.

14. It's not what you see in the movie. Movies and TV shows portray high school as this awesome place where it seems like no actual work gets done. That's not the case. High school is a lot of hard work, but there are also a lot of great times mixed in.

15. Be the best you can be. That is all anyone asks of you.

16. Be more outgoing. It makes it easier to find friends and gives you the opportunity to make friends in most of your classes.

17. Don't judge others. Everyone has something going on in their life that you can't tell just by looking at them.

18. Have fun! You only get to experience high school once so make the most of it!