Dear Freshman Me,

Welcome to High School. It sucks. It's four years of useless socializing and ridiculous parties and trying to be someone you're not. But remember, these are "the best years of your life". If I had a nickel for every time I heard that. Let me just tell you that these are not the best years of your life, because if they are then you should seriously reevaluate your life. I'm going to give you some advice.

First off, do not slack off.

You may think that you can wait until halfway through Junior year to get your act together, but if you do that you will regret it. Your actions Freshman year decide what your Sophomore year is like and so on. These might not be the best years of your life, but they are some of the most important.

My second piece of advice to you is to not be so desperate to make friends.

It's okay not to know anyone. You're the new kid your freshman year while everyone else has been together for eight years. Do not spend your time trying to be what you think you need to be to fit in, because chances are you're just driving yourself in the opposite direction. When you have real friends they won't just drop you because something better comes along, so don't chase them away because you're scared they'll eventually leave. In the words of Bob Marley, "Every little thing is gonna be alright."

My last piece of advice is very important. I think it's the most important one.

Please be careful of the people you choose to surround yourself with.

Friends can be the most important people in your life so it is important to make sure that you know who you are spending all your time with. Don't get wrapped up with people who use you. You shouldn't have to be finding yourself doing things you aren't proud of, and you definitely shouldn't be in situations you aren't comfortable with.

Just relax and try not to stress so much, and I promise that everything will fall into place.