Dear High School Me:
Well, it's been three and a half years since we graduated. Post-high school life has truly been what everybody said it would be: completely different. I've learned a lot since graduation, so here are some life lessons I've learned that I wish I would have known in high school.
You think classes are hard now? You just wait...
The classes you thought were "hard" in high school are absolutely nothing compared to the classes you take in college. And we won't even mention upper-level courses. Let's just say, be prepared to study. Actually, learn how to study in high school so I don't have to suffer in college.
The people you spent every day with in high school will become practically strangers two weeks after graduation.
Not because you stopped liking talking to each other, but because you realized that you only hung out with them because you saw them five days a week for eight hours a day. Some friends will prove to be true "forever friends," but the rest? You'll see them at the store over break and maybe at a reunion. Cherish the memories, but don't go chasing the past.
Who you were in high school does not define you in college.
This is the time to totally reinvent yourself, should you choose. I went from being insecure and always trying to fit in in order to make friends to being completely myself and letting people know the real me. I realized that the people I should be surrounding myself with will love me for me, not for some facade I put on.
Get used to not always being the best.
We were pretty smart in high school, always getting one of the highest grades on every test, just skating by with homework and studying, always succeeding. Be prepared to fail. Hard. Multiple times. And it's okay. Failing a quiz or even an exam is not the end of the world. Let people help you and figure out how to succeed. People will admire your resiliency and work ethic, which is way better than being admired for intelligence.
Don't let what other people think get you down.
Seriously, never. What do they know? You'll never be the prettiest or the smartest or the best, but you're you, and that's what people never take into account. Your critics barely know you, so how could they know everything that makes you so wonderfully you? Don't be afraid to express yourself because you're scared of what other people might think. Just get out there and do you. The right people will be attracted to that, and that's how you find your people.
Don't stress about being rejected from colleges.
The right will find you (I would know), even if it's not the one you think you wanted. You'll end up at your "safety school," but don't discount it. The program here is wonderful and difficult and everything it would have been at those other schools. Embrace college for what it is, not for what it isn't. You're going to live at home for your undergrad career, which you'll be mad about at first but soon get over for a whole myriad of reasons. Don't be so quick to go out on your own.
Cut all your hair off in high school instead of waiting for graduation.
Even if you still keep it long for prom. Cut it all off the day after. You'll be infinitely happier.
High school is tough. College is tough. But you're tougher, and I know we'll be just fine.
Love,
Me.
