High school taught me many things not only educational, but about life. I’m here to share the most important things that I learned throughout my four years that guided me through my first year of college and will continue to guide me throughout life.

1. Who cares about what anyone thinks

People in high school (girls in specific) can be extremely judgemental. It seemed like people lived off of gossip and as long as the gossip wasn’t about them, they didn’t care what was said. However looking back on it, I now realize a lot of it was jealousy and insecurity. As long as you’re happy, who cares what anyone else thinks. They’re probably the ones missing out anyway.

2. People will come and go

I went through a lot of different friend groups throughout high school and made friends with tons of different people whether they were in my classes, on my team, or friends of friends. You’ll find that once you don’t have something in common with those people anymore, your friendship will slowly fade away. Don’t take it personally. You aren’t meant to stay friends with the hundreds of people you meet forever.

3. You find out who will always stand by your side and what you will look for in friendships

This one goes hand in hand with #1 and #2. Along with high school comes an unnecessary amount of drama that no one will even remember in a few months anyway. Throughout this drama though you’ll realize who was always there for you and who never really was.

4. You get out of life what you put into it

This applies not only to life, but also to school. If you work your butt off in your classes and also in sports, it will pay off. Maybe you won’t get a full scholarship to a college of your choice, but I promise you do get the experience. You get the gratifying feeling of accomplishing goals that you doubted at some point. And most importantly, you realize you can do anything you set your mind to.

5. Life goes on

This is something my mom told me all throughout high school and still tells me. No matter what happens, life keeps moving forward even if you don't. So, you have a choice. Move on and find happiness or sit and dwell on things that you’ll later realize were completely irrelevant.

6. Time goes by way too fast

I still remember the nerves I had the first day of freshmen year like it was a week ago. Or the excitement of going into senior year and planning out what my next four years would look like. My high school years went by with what felt like the blink of an eye, but I wouldn’t change a thing about them. Live everyday to the fullest because if you don’t, it’s a day of your life you can’t get back.