Dear Innocent Self,

What's the future or getting hurt? You still have no idea what those words mean, and that is completely okay. Now, you wouldn’t expect to be a 21-year- old, living 2,285 miles away from home and graduating in May.

First, people will go away without giving real reasons and then leave a permanent mark in your heart. I'm sorry you have to go through that. The truth is you have to consider yourself FIRST more than any other person in your life. First YOU, second YOU and third YOU. Many people will try to help you succeed or even fail in life. Don’t let anyone fool you.

As your sister always said, "Don’t let anyone disturb your peace." Look around you, these people that surround you right now will not be in your life later on. You graduate high school and you will probably only talk to around four to five friends from your old friend group. If you are lucky enough, things will be the exact same, but most of the time everything changes. Don’t hesitate, real friends won’t go away.

You are going to go to college outside of your comfort zone — with a new language, climate, and a completely different culture. People will be mean with your English accent — just keep your head up and be proud that you are where you are. You will miss your parents — call and FaceTime them. Your family will mean the most in college, make the miles worth it.

You won’t have your perfect high school GPA. Why? Because college is much harder than high school and you have to encourage yourself every day to work even harder than the day before. In the end, everything will be worth it — don’t become frustrated if you fail one test. This will make you study harder for the next one.

There will be a lot of competition to see who has the higher test grade and you don’t have to say your grade. In all your classes you will have someone who will always be bragging about their grades — ignore them, don't let them call you dumb. Mind your OWN business.

Other than competition, there are lots of distractions.

Don't leave everything for the night before — you will fail. Organize your time and go to the gym — it is a great stress reliever. Get up early and start your day fresh. Don't snooze that alarm as you usually do.

Now, you will fall in love maybe a couple of times, luckily enough you might find the one. You will get hurt and its NOT the end of the world. Crying is okay — let your emotions go out. Don’t leave your feelings inside — always say the truth you will feel much better. They will tell you I love you, but you don’t destroy the people you love as they say on Grey's Anatomy. Don’t ever blame everything on yourself.

Don’t trust everyone — your secrets are not safe. Many people might gossip about you for not even a particular motive and you will get hurt. Wipe those tears away and move on. A lot of people want to see you suffer and actually fail in your life. These are the ones that make you work harder and form a stronger character.

I want you to always remember that you are worth it. That no one can make you feel less than that, you have a purpose in this world. Also, say sorry and forgive people that did you wrong because you deserve peace of mind.

Have fun and enjoy life to its fullest. Deny the negative peer pressure and surround yourself with positive people.

Lastly don’t forget about these things:

Tell your family you love them

Organize your life

Put yourself first

Study HARD, in the end it will be worth it

Give compliments

Smile often

Go to the gym even when you don’t really want to

Don’t trust everyone

Be yourself

I know you will succeed. Just remember some rocks in your path will make it harder, but keep your chin up and get going. You are strong and keep up the good work.

XOXO,

Your older self

PS: Thank you, Mom and Dad.