When I was an eighth grader, I had figured it out that I could sneak headphones in my ears during class if I wore a baggy hoodie and kept my hair down. I had a smart-mouthed attitude toward the teachers that I didn't particularly like, and I began to love heavy metal music more than I ever had before.

Jake, as you go through your last year until you reach the years which movie directors base successful films off of, I want you to know that it gets even better from here.

In a year, Dad will be teaching you how to drive. You'll be slightly nervous at first, feeling the vehicle slightly glide as your feet are not even on the gas pedal or the brake. You'll never enter the high school cafeteria because you and your friends will have much better food, and the library is a much better setting. You'll find that people are much more understanding than they were once upon a time.

The kids who use 'gay' as a derogatory term will suddenly go silent. You will find that there are teachers who truly want to get to know you and guide you in any way that they can. People will see that you are a serious person, but they will also take note of the heart you have.

Not everybody will be the same anymore. You will be attending one of the most diverse schools in the country and realize that nobody cares which shoes you wore today or if you developed a new zit on your nose. You're going to find yourself talking to those who are polar opposites of you, and you won't mind it a bit.

As you grow older, you're going to hear everyone telling you to 'be a man' when you act up. But who is a man specifically? Be yourself. Carry yourself well and focus on your manners, but do not worry about having heavily prevalent and unattainable masculine traits like everyone expects of you.

Keep your passions. For me, it was writing, art and poetry. They're going to mean the world to you one day as you grow older with them.

Remind yourself that you love yourself. So many teenagers fail at doing so, as I did. Truly loving yourself becomes harder as you get older.

And lastly, listen to Mom. When she says that your plans are a bad idea, they're a bad idea.

Make the most of these years while you can.