In less than a month, I'll be graduating high school. There are no words I can use to describe how ready I am to leave my hometown and go to college 948 miles and one time zone away. I think I'm in the same boat as most of the class of 2018, that I didn't have an excessively miserable time in high school, but there are some things I wish I had known before. I'd like to share some of these lessons with you.
Learn to say no. As much as you may wanna carry the weight of the world on your shoulder, it's gonna crush you. Don't be afraid to take time for yourself and put yourself first. I thought that I could handle it all and, spoiler alert, I couldn't. I ended up spiraling, crashing and burning and everything blew up in my face. Big time. Please learn from my mistakes and remember that no one expects you to do it all.
There's always someone looking up at you, don't let them down. When I was a freshman, I took after the seniors in my theatre department and turned to them with all my questions and wanted to work as hard as they did. Now that I'm a senior myself, I've worked to be the person that I looked up to when I was younger. I want to be a role model to the kids that come after me and I'm always working toward bettering myself to be that person. If I can help one person by setting a positive example, then I'll be happy.
No one cares about that one test you failed that one time your sophomore year. Not a damn person. Don't over obsess about every little bump in the road because it's way more trouble than it's worth. If you mess up a little here and there, you're going to be just fine. In fact, it's those mistakes that shape you as a person and teach you the best lessons. No matter how catastrophic it may seem at the time, you're gonna look back on it and laugh.
Above all else, be kind. Be kind to the people you meet, to your family, your friends, your classmates, the kids you see in the hall, everyone. When you radiate kindness everyone around you tend to follow suit. It's a small act, but it can make someone's day. This kindness should also extend to yourself. Practice self care and never belittle the good that you've done. Don't down play the things you love about yourself and give yourself credit where credit is due.
You can take my advice or leave it, these are just things that I learned along the way. Take everything with a grain of salt because there's no one "right" way to live your life and different people follow different paths. The best I can do is share what I wish I had known and hope I can help someone along the way.