1. High school is not the best four years of your life. Honestly, I’m not quite sure if college is, either. You hate high school with every ounce of your being right now, and you have every right to. But don’t worry, because in just two short years that will go by faster than you could ever imagine, you will graduate, and you’ll move on to much better things. Don’t listen to the people who say it is inevitable that you’ll miss high school. It’s honestly fine for you to be unhappy with the convoluted and mysterious ways of high school, and once you’re out of there, you’re going to have no desire to look back. Don’t let anyone ever invalidate your feelings. Be angry and hate high school as much as you want, because it’s just going to motivate you to work even harder to create something much better for yourself once you’re out.

2. Believe it or not, the girls you are best friends with right now are still going to be your best friends when you’re a sophomore in college. I promise. Everyone is going to tell you that the people you’re friends with now won’t be your friends in five years, and that scares you. For some people, that is the truth. But for you, it’s not, and I wish you knew this. I know you think that you have to separate yourself from them and find other people because you don’t want to end up alone, but don’t put those who matter the most on the back burner. These girls love you and have loved you since your group came to be. The small fights seem big and significant now, but they won’t be soon enough. You have the best rock, the best support system, and the five best friends a girl could ever ask for. And they’re not going anywhere.

3. It gets better. It will get worse, better, and worse a few more times, but it will always get better. I want you to remember this, especially when you’re laying in your bed at four in the morning with your eyes glued to the black ceiling and you feel like everything is crashing down. Everything may be crashing down in your world at the time, but I swear that you will build it all back up. You’re so much stronger than you think, and deserve so much more credit than what you give yourself. As our favorite singer Taylor Swift once said, “Pain makes you stronger, and I now believe that walking through a lot of rain storms gets you clean.” Repeat this. Breathe this. Believe this.

4. You’re not in love with him. You think you are, I know it. And it’s okay to think you are. Heck, you’ve been in love with this boy since you first laid eyes on him in fifth grade. Don’t let anybody make you feel like your feelings aren’t valid. It doesn’t matter that you’re only 16, you believe so strongly that what you’re feeling is love. Hold on to that feeling, because soon enough, you’re really going to fall in love with a boy who is going to break your heart. And suddenly, you are going to wish you were 16 and “in love” again, because you’ve never felt so alone in your life. (Remember those five girls who are your best support system? Yes? Good. You’re going to need them.)

5. Please don’t sell yourself short. You are smart and capable of so much. Push yourself a little harder, because I know what you can do, and you deserve the best. Just because the cute blonde boy in your English class didn’t text you back or you didn’t make the varsity lacrosse team your sophomore year, it doesn’t mean that you’re not “good enough.” Don’t stop pushing, trying, and growing. You’re going to do great things in the next few years, but you’re going to need to believe in yourself in order to do them. Get a head-start and start trusting yourself now; it’s going to make things a lot easier for you in the future.