Dear High School Girls...

Dear High School Girls,

There's so much I need to say to you but first, I need to say this. You, right now, are a completely wonderful untapped resource of potential. Your life is just beginning. You can make decisions right now about what you will do for your life, who you will be and what version of yourself you want the world to see. You are in a wonderful place in life. You've only just begun, even if it feels like time has been dragging on.

Here's the thing.

Decisions you make now will affect the rest of your life, regardless of what people tell you. So here's my list of things you need to remember.

1) Study. Get good grades in every class. Don't throw away the opportunity to soak up knowledge now. Yes, math is obscure and weird. Sure, science might be boring. History can be dry. But learn it. Take it in. Even if all you ever use it for is to know you could never be a math teacher, then you benefited. Challenge yourself to make straight A's. Challenge yourself to get a high SAT score. Challenge yourself to make intelligence one of your traits.

2) Dress appropriately. Put your breasts AWAY. Wear shorts that don't show your pockets. Jeans should not appear to be painted on. Dress like you are proud of yourself, not like you are available for boys to sleep with. No matter what anyone says, your clothes and appearance are your first impression on people. Would you be proud of the way you are dressing?

3) Boys are not the end all to be all. High school boys are immature and not yet grown up. Having a boyfriend is fine but it's not the end of the world. I know it's hard to feel "alone," but trust me you are not alone. You don't need to waste your time being exclusive with boys. Have lots of dates, figure out what you like and don't like in different boys and remember that high school relationships RARELY end in marriage. Stop being so serious and just have fun!

4) Drinking. can. wait. Don't end up with permanent reminders of a stupid mistake on your record for ever. Seriously.

5) Make friends outside your normal circle. Open your eyes and see that everyone has something to offer. Be the type of person others would vote Miss Congeniality. Be truly interested in what people have to say, offer to help wherever you can and most importantly don't judge a person before you actually know them. What if people judged you based on stories they have heard?

6) If you are passionate about something, pursue that. Don't be pressured into joining other clubs/sports/activities. It's good to try lots of things but if you know you are talented at one thing and really and truly enjoy it, don't stress yourself out trying to do it all. Especially if it's something you want to do in college or beyond. If you love soccer, do soccer and spend the off season training and doing activities that compliment soccer. If you are a musician, get involved in all things music. If you are a dancer, for God's sake stop doing 90,000 other things and DANCE.

High school is not the best time of your life. It's just the beginning. It's an exciting adventure, but it's also hard. You will have fights, you will get upset, you will make mistakes. It's okay. Learn from it. Take it in then let it go. Use every single day as a building block to the best version of yourself.

And never forget. You are one of a kind. God doesn't make mistakes.