When I was 15, I set up my camera and started my very first YouTube channel. I published videos once a week and had a pretty good following for the several years that I did it. I remember never scripting any of my videos so that every topic I would talk about would be authentic and speak volumes to others because it was just a normal girl giving advice rather than a scripted version of it. I remember spending little time editing because I wanted everything I said to mean something to someone, even myself. I learned so many things about life, friendship, love, and myself while I was on YouTube.
1. I learned about love
Some of my most successful videos were about my crazy love life (go figure) and through just talking about my problems and feeling on camera, I started to recognize a pattern in my dating life. I started to see where my choices in guys were leading me and how unhappy I was. That's when I began to change my dating life and through that, I have found some quality guys in my lifetime. It's amazing what recording your problems and watching them back tells you about your life.
2. I learned to help myself
I'm an only child and in high school, I didn't have a lot of friends, so I always felt alone when it came to teenage drama and internal struggles I had because I didn't know who I could rely on. So, I turned to YouTube and the world to help guide me through life. It ended up helping me grow significantly because I learned through the online communities that there were people struggling just like me and that I wasn't alone. This helped me cope with life struggles and bettered me as a person and I am so thankful for that.
3. I learned to help others
When you start a YouTube channel, the intent should be to reach out to people in some way. My way of reaching out was to help people as I was growing as a person, myself. I gave advice about everything a teenager would be struggling with and luckily, I had viewers reach out to me and tell me that it worked.
4. I learned who my true friends were
When you talk about your life, even without name dropping, you will bring up certain people and situations that might strain your relationships in real life. It was hard talking and giving advice while trying to be authentic because it meant that I might have to betray the trust of some of the people in my life. I eventually learned that if they don't want to support me in what makes me happy, then they aren't my real friends. It was hard at the time, but it paid off in the end because I got rid of many toxic people who were holding me back.
5. I learned who I was and grew as a person
Being a YouTuber is more than just making crazy amounts of money and publicity, it's about finding who you are through all of the glitz and the glamour. It's about learning who you are and creating a good life for yourself in a lonely internet world. There were trials and errors in the process, but I wouldn't trade everything I went through and learned for the world because it made me into who I am today, and I'm very proud of who I am now.
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