When we're younger, we want to be older. When we're older, we want to be younger. We wish for the past and future all while missing out on the present. If I could tell my younger self about living in the moment, this is what I would say:

1. Focus on your friends

Study their faces. Learn something new about them every day. Don't get into petty arguments. Before you know it, someone moves or changes schools. If you focused on them, you'll be more likely to continue that friendship.

2. Don't focus on your outward appearance

I don't remember when I first started caring about my outward appearance - too early, I know that. I wish I had paid more attention to what mitochondrion are, not what shirt I'm wearing the next day. I wish I had never started caring because I don't want to care.

3. Focus on your dreams, no one else's

Don't copy someone else's dreams because it sounds cooler than your own, and never believe your dream is too far-fetched. Be a private island caretaker, be a video game tester, be a detective, be a bakery owner, be a teacher. Envision yourself in that career and work towards that every single day. Dreams change, too. It's never too late to change the dream you're chasing.

4. Don't focus on being the smartest person in the room

This is ultimately what led me to believing that my grades defined my intelligence. We're taught to study hard and earn good test grades, but I wish I had known that test grades don't represent my whole being. I needed to know that no matter what my test grade was, that my kindness, respect, diligence, independence and determination is what exemplified me.