Life is hard right now, I know. You're just starting your sophomore year in high school and the reality of how harsh this world can be is finally setting in. This is the oldest and wisest you have been so far in your life, but this year is really going to test you. This is going to be the year where you question everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything.
You're going to ask yourself why you're friends with who you're friends with, and why you're still taking honors classes though you can't seem to pass them. You'll want to know why your sister hates hanging out with you so much, and why your parents don't trust you enough to hangout with your friends on the weekend. You're gonna ask why that teacher keeps giving you D's on every assignment you turn in, though you worked your ass off over the weekend on it. You're going to wonder why the boys look at you they way they do. You're going to ask yourself why you don't fit in with the cool kids. You're going to want the answers to all these questions and then some, but honestly, sometimes the answers don't exist.
You are going to get through this year, and the next 3 years of high school. It will be tough, you will cry and you'll think about giving up a million times. But I promise you, you will be okay.
Your best friend will move across the country and you'll feel as if your world is crashing down. You will get invited out to parties on Friday nights, and for a while, you will politely decline the offer. Then one Saturday night, you decide to go. Your friends will stop talking to you after you decide you like to go out and party, and your parents will ground you a few times once they, too, find out. You'll beg your friends for forgiveness (though you didn't do anything wrong) and you'll sit your parents down and explain it was just innocent fun and you're being safe. You'll fall in love with a boy who you've always had a crush on, and you'll break his heart. You'll realize it's not what you wanted and you'll move on quickly. Your friends will stop inviting you to game nights, and you'll wonder why on earth you aren't good enough for them anymore. You will go through a phase where you feel so lonely and sad that you decide to move schools and get away from the people who don't seem to want you around.
You'll get your first job and meet your best friend in the process. You will start school at an entirely new place, with no friends and no familiar faces. It is scary, but you know that you can handle it. You will take the honors class, though they are challenging, but you'll do it anyway so you can prove a point to yourself. You'll join the book club, and baking club to keep yourself busy. You'll have a history teacher that will change your life. The stories he tells you will make you think of the world in a different light, and he'll bring you and your friends closer than ever. The friends you meet during high school won't be around for long, but at the time, you won't be able to imagine your life without them.
There will be a group of 'cool' girls that you'll want to be apart of so badly. They'll be nice to you and make plans with you, but they won't have good intentions. They don't want to be your friend. They are the popular girls, but that doesn't mean they aren't mean girls. This won't stop you from being nice to them and constantly trying to gain their approval, but one day, you'll realize how pointless it is trying to get someones attention. This goes with boys, as well. You will spend a good amount of time trying to be something he wants. And your friends will push against that, but you're young and naive so you'll do it anyway. Kiss all the boys you want, but do not let them get in the way of your future.
Senior year will blow by. You'll make some of your best memories this year, so don't take any moment for granted. But don't just think of high school as the fun times. These years will matter and they will help shape your future. You are going to fail a class your senior year, and it will scare you into thinking you're not graduating with all of your friends. This is not the case. You will just need to take some time off of fun adventures and pick up an extra online class to get the credits back. And guess what? You'll ace that online class, you'll graduate in the top 20% of your class, and you'll finally be out of high school.
After high school is when life starts to kick in and get real.
Do everything and anything that you want. Try new things. Meet new people. Travel to new destinations. Do whatever your heart desires at the time. But promise me one thing: don't get fixed on the idea that your life only consists in the town you grew up in. If you want out, get out. Go after the things you want. You will never regret chasing after your dreams, but you will regret sitting on the sidelines as someone else gets your ticket to their dreams. This life is what you make it, girl. Get out there and live it.
