I'm always a big believer in the little things. They mean so much more than the big things, especially because they can be harder to do or say.

Short sentences/fragments can be easier to physically make sounds for and are usually more memorable, especially when in the heat of the moment. That's why you know someone said "I Do," at the altar, but I don't know anyone who truly remembers what their significant other said on their knee (even seconds after). That's also why you remember the one statement of constructive criticism in a sentence and not the complements tacked onto either end.

Nerd. Loser. Wannabe. Been there, done that. These short words don't make you better than me, they just help me to see how much more love you truly need. That's easy, even if it doesn't seem that way at the time. As you get older, the insults become stealthier and deeper.

I have always believed the saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." But I have also believed in the destruction of silence. Silence is indeed an answer, and it is often more harmful than actual words.

One of the most useful things I've ever learned from a teacher is to look for what the media is trying to distract you from. For instance, I couldn't even begin to count the lives lost due to genocide or wars of hate in the time that we protested outside of a coward's dentistry practice. Those people didn't have a voice because that man took a lion's. If you're going to speak up, speak up to the regulations of hunters and poaching of millions of animals or even to your friends at the lunch table to change who gets the microphone -- not to one man who obviously isn't going to change his mind.

I think speaking up can honestly change your life -- and I firmly believe action speaks just as loudly as your voice. I would rather regret being "that girl" who rolled down her window to offer a homeless woman a granola bar or "that freak" including a 13 year-old-girl into her group at a concert to make her feel like music is valuable and that age doesn't matter here instead of regretting being the girl who sat and watched. Seeing the look on their faces is worth all of the potentially awkward situations I may face, and believe me, there are some. That gut feeling? Act on it.

I obviously can't speak for men, but if you tell a women you like her outfit, she will remember it for the day. If you compliment her personality or her brain, she's going to remember that forever, and it will propel her forward on her bad days.

Repeating to yourself each morning, "I am going to be okay," can change your perspective and change your life.

We still live in a world where being nice to people makes their jaw drop. And yes, I am aware I go to school in Texas, where door holding is customary. But it isn't special. I don't do it to be nice; I do it because it's habit. Being nice can be a habit too.

I'm 21 now, and I'd say I've gotten pretty darn good at letting things roll off my shoulders. I've paid my dues with the mean names from friends and enemies alike.

High school is full of harsh words and undertones; college is full of silence. But don't let that discourage you, please. College is hard, but just because you and I trudged along through high school trying to hide in the back corner with as few scars as possible, doesn't mean everyone should have to live like that.

If smiling and saying 'hi' to random students on campus helps them have a better day, but gets me funny looks, so be it.

I am going to be okay, each and every day, and so are you.