It gets better. It is a phrase that you hear all the time as a teenager, but let’s face it, who believes that when they are in high school? I know I didn’t. I’m not too far removed from my days in high school to remember. When you are 16, it feels like you are stuck where you are for forever. Well guess what: you aren’t. We all had plenty of moments in life where we did stupid things. We lived and we learned and as hard as we tried not to we did have regrets. I know that teenage years are some of the hardest years in life. I know when I was a freshman in highschool I thought I knew everything. At 15 I thought I understood stuff that I still don't understand at almost 20. Here are some things that I wish I knew as a highschooler.

This place called highschool is where you will spend the next four years of your life. You will hate everything about it, yet love it at the same time. This is where you will experience many smiles, overly posed pictures, and late night conversations. You will discover who you are through discovering who you are not. The life that you will choose to live will be tough; it's supposed to be that way. That boy that you are head over heels for. You probably won't marry him. Heartbreaks are tough. There will plenty more. Don't dress down because your guy isn't confident when you are in heels. Don't dress scandalously to try and get an older guys attention. You don't want his attention that way anyway. Be friends with guys just to be friends with guys. Have a group of guy friends that you can turn to because they are simpler than girls. Have girls that you can have a slumber party with where you do nothing but eat cookies and watch parody movies. Remember that your favorite Netflix shows and movies are not real life. Don't expect to have a guy hold a boom box over his head outside your window or to be asked to prom with Greys anatomy. Live your life for you. Don't give up anything about your life over a guy.

Thank your parents for everything that they do. You will not agree with them on a lot of their rules, but you will appreciate it later. They have your best interest at heart. I know it is hard to see now, but they are right. Clean your room without being told to for the reason of it is nice to have everything in its place. Start getting organized. Put time into your studies and prioritize your life. Get life experience. Volunteer to work events. Learn that you are not too good to pick up dishes or to wash a car for someone. Learn that you can gripe about having to do something or you can shutup and realize that griping does nothing, but taking initiative and pride betters you. Have respect for those who are over you and have leadership and take others under your wing. Realize that others look at you in your worst and your best. Make sure you are proud of what they see. Realize that in the grand scheme of things you are still a child. Be okay with not knowing everything. Don't think that you do cause you learn the hard way that you are wrong. Embrace still being a kid because you will wish you had when you are asked to be an adult.

Don't compare yourself to models in magazines or to the older girls that all the boys have eyes for. You aren't them and it does you know good by wishing that you were. When you are 15 you aren't supposed to look like you are 25. That is okay. Be fine with looking your age. Be just as confident in no makeup as you are in a full face of makeup. Be confident in yourself. Don't be afraid to read in front of a class. Be okay with dancing crazy and having people laugh at you. Life is too short to take yourself so seriously. Laugh too loudly over stupid jokes with your friends. You won't remember the jokes, but you will remember the feeling. Be a band geek and be okay with that. Do what you love and don't apologize. People in high school are mean. When you are 16 everything feels like the end of the world. I promise you that looking back you will wonder how you ever cared about some of the stuff that consumed your thoughts. People will cause drama and people will be cruel. At the end of the day you are you and you are the only one who determines your own happiness. You are you. People will look at you and give you stupid expectations that you feel the pressure to me. Don't care. Wear too much lipgloss. Kiss the boy that you really like on the first date. Be unapologetically you and don't forget that life is a beautiful thing. Don't forget to live it.