I wish that I could go back and tell my 16-year-old self a little bit about life. I think everyone wishes that they could go back in life and give their younger self advice. I mean, we all have regrets. We all wish we did some things in life and we all wish we hadn’t done others. Reflecting back on my younger years (not that I’m old -- I just turned 21), I really am fascinated by how different of a person I am today, than I was five years ago.

Alright, so there a few things that stick out in my mind that I wish I knew when I was younger. Number one, the people you are so worried about impressing or being friends with in high school, will mean nothing in a few years. OK, so that must sound really harsh and cold, but it’s true. I can guarantee you that you will only have a handful of friends from high school once you go to college and beyond. Yes, I have people that I catch up with here and there, but there are my certain friends from high school that I know I will have for a lifetime. These are my true friends that I know will be there for me when I need advice, be there when I fall down; we’ll be in each other’s weddings and try to make our kids be friends. I have a few of these friends and you know who you are. However, I so wish I could tell my younger self to stop caring about what other people thought because chances are, more than half of the people you go to high school with, you’ll never see again.

Also, if younger Nicole could go back and fix things, it would be to be more involved. I had my group of friends and had my fun, but I’m going to be honest -- I wish I was a little more involved in high school. I wish I went to more sporting events, went to clubs, and made more memories. I’m more involved in college now because I didn’t want to not be involved. Don’t get me wrong, I was involved in high school -- just not as much as I should have been, and I think half the problem was that I hadn’t found my niche yet.

Another thing -- I so wish I would’ve been more open to talking to and making different friends. I had my group of friends like I said earlier, but honestly, I wish I wasn’t as picky in high school. I wish that my high school as a whole was more open to talking to people. Thank goodness by senior year everyone warmed up to each other and people weren’t afraid to get out of their clique. I mean obviously it would have been nicer for people to be civil when we started out as baby freshmen, but I guess maturity comes with age?

This next thing is always funny to me. I love it when you never talked to someone in high school, and afterwards, they come out of the woodwork years after graduation by hitting on you or randomly trying to be your friend. I’m sorry, but do I know you? Literally, you were the biggest stuck up snob in high school and now you’re trying to be nice? My more mature attitude is now kicking in. Hello, it is okay to grow up and realize that we may have more in common with others than we would have originally thought. My 16-year-old self would never imagine I would have acquaintances and friends that I do now, but hey, when people grow up, they change and mature (well, they’re supposed to, anyway).

Can we please rewind five years and learn that drama is so annoying? Avoid it at all costs possible! In high school, everyone cares what everyone thinks. They stick their noses in everyone’s business and don’t know when to stop crossing the line. Excuse me, but people need to mind their own business and not care so much about what others are doing. But, at 16 you couldn’t possibly imagine not sticking your nose in other people’s business. I mean, hello, what else do we have to do but pick on that girl's outfit and trash talk the couple in homeroom? I so wish I could go back and tell myself to stop worrying about other people’s drama and focus on my own. We all know that no matter how old we are, there will always be some sort of drama in our lives, whether we want to admit it or not. However, my older self should definitely have warned my younger self to try and stay out of as much drama as possible and avoid it at all costs unless it directly involved me. Less headaches in the end, am I right?

I so wish that younger Nicole got the memo about studying…ugh, everyone’s favorite leisure activity (not!). Okay, so in high school, yeah I studied, but not that much. I simply didn’t have to. Not studying in high school became a bad habit, considering that when I started college, I barely knew how to study because I never had to do it. Don’t worry though, I’ve mastered the whole studying thing at this point (or so I think…). I just wish I had learned to do it sooner! Another thing, your GPA and SAT scores will not follow you around forever. Eventually, people will stop talking about it and you won’t have to hear about what someone got on the math section. However, once you move along to the next stage in your life, all you will obsess over is the next test score or milestone (aka, me and the LSAT).

Also, I wish younger Nicole would have realized that the one pimple on her chin or awkward gym class wasn’t such a big deal after all. I mean, no one really cares about that stuff when you get older. You slap on some concealer or hit the gym once you graduate high school and no one cares. It’s not like any of those things were that big of a deal anyway. Okay, and please, chances are your puppy love crush will not be your husband, so get over it and move along. No more heartache and crying about a teenage boy who is probably still addicted to video games and can’t grow facial hair. There are plenty of fish in the sea ladies; he’s not all that he’s cracked up to be.

All in all, I wish my younger self knew that it would not be forever. I would get through it. I would be able to move forward without that “heartthrob” (who really wasn’t). I would be able to make it past the 50 I got on my math test. I would be able to get past the fact that I lost some of my best friends. I would make it through because high school is not the definition of a good life. A good life is something that you make of it and I am so happy that the life I have now is what it is, because I have learned so much, and that’s the best part of growing up.