Looking back, I did a lot of questionable things when I was 12. If there was some way I could go back and tell myself to quit doing those questionable things, I would. Trust me, I would be forever grateful to know then what I've learned over the years.
1. Invest in some eyeliner.
Okay, I get it. You’re 12 and make-up really isn’t that important to you. But here’s the thing: someday in the future, someone’s going to find your (extremely ugly) 7th grade yearbook photo and tweet it to you. Do you want that? No, you don’t. Please learn some cool eyeliner tricks, but avoid going overboard whenever possible. This has been a PSA.
2. Stop tweeting about famous singers so much.
I know The Jonas Brothers and Cody Simpson were the best things to ever happen to you, but constantly tweeting about how much you want to marry them is not going to make you cool (and it certainly won’t make them want to marry you). I wish it would, but it won’t and it didn’t. You’re allowed to obsess (trust me, it’s fun), but let’s not make it so public, okay?
3. Don’t get bangs.
Bangs on you are like communism: much better in theory. Everyone’s going to tell you to get bangs but you just shouldn’t. Some people can really pull them off, but you are not one of those people. You should envy those people but you should under no circumstances try to be one of those people. Admire them from afar or something.
4. Stop parting your hair in the middle.
Your forehead is huge and you need to quit doing this.
5. Don’t tell your entire family you’re going to be a doctor, because they’ll be extremely disappointed when you tell them you’re going to college to become a journalist.
Medical school is kind of like bangs: much better in theory. At some point in high school, you’re going to realize you hate science and want nothing to do with it. Writing, on the other hand, is the bomb. You love writing. Get going on that. Form a school newspaper or something, I don’t know.
6. Get some better taste in music.
Your music library at this point pretty much consisted of Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, The Jonas Brothers, and Hannah Montana. Please, love yourself and get better some taste in music. Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy existed when you were 12. You love them in the future, so you could love them now, too. You know what? Just have a full-on emo phase. Just go for it.
7. On a more serious note: do not change for a boy. Ever.
You really don't do this very often (if at all), but I find it important that you know that you really don't need to do this. In fact, changing the things I said above really isn't that important either. What's really important is being yourself, no matter how awkward or supposedly unattractive you are. In fact, being the weirdo you are now will make you who you are in the future, and let me be the first to tell you that that person turned out to be pretty darn cool.
