Many of us have some adult or parental figure that we have learned a lot from. I've learned many lessons from a lot of different adult and parental figures throughout my life. I would like to share twelve things I've learned from my mother in my 19 years so far.

1) Check your email often

This was one of the first things I remember my mother telling me about going to college. Growing up I only really used email to submit occasional homework assignments. My mother told me that I should check my email at least once a day at college and at this point in my schooling (year 3) I check it about three times a day.

2) Only you can control how you react to an emotion

When I was starting high school my mother went back to college and eventually earned an Associate's and Bachelor degree and a Certificate in Corrections. She now works as a Substance Abuse counselor. During her time earning her Associate's degree she started saying that "Nobody MAKES you do anything." While this is arguably due to societal pressures to do things, she meant that you can't blame someone for your reaction to an emotion they may have evoked. I am a very emotionally reactive person and remembering this has helped me become more in control of my emotions.

3) Supporting what someone does is incredibly powerful

I learned this lesson from watching my mom. As my sisters and I have grown older she has become incredibly supporting of anything we want to do. Last fall I decided I wanted to go to Africa for part of the coming summer and she supported me the whole way. My younger sister, who is a senior in high school and nearly 18, has been battling with whether or not she wants to go to college. She has flip flopped a few times between wanting and not wanting but eventually decided to apply and my mother supported her every time she made a new decision.

4) There is no "best way" just a best way for you

Everyone leads a different life and that means that there are different ways to do the "best thing". What was best for my mom at my age is not going to be what is best for me. What is best for me is not what's best for my sister. I am so happy I had my mother to teach this to me as it is something many people never learn.

5) There is no shame in arbitrary obsessions

Over my life I've had a number of different things I obsessed over a number of things. In middles school, it was monkeys, throughout my life since middle school I've loved a variety of crime shows, and now I love mermaids. My mother allowed to continue these minor obsessions. In fact, I attribute my love of crime shows directly to my mother's love of crime shows.

6) There is no shame in being a grown up who LOVES sweets

I am a grown up who absolutely loves sweets. My mom sends me tons of candy and brings me lots of sweet treats when she comes and visits. It doesn't matter that I still eat like a 4-year-old. Sweets are for everyone.

7) Camp is a powerful and amazing place

In my 14 years as a camper at WIUM Camps I only missed two summers. This is the same camp my mother went to as a kid and sent me to for many years. I absolutely love camp and devoted two summers to working there. Without my mother, I never would have gone to camp.

8) It's okay to think you're funnier than you are

My mother thinks she is very funny and usually she isn't. The same goes for my grandmother...and myself. My baby sister (who is 16) has told me multiple times that I'm not funny or has said something to my mom about her not being funny. This doesn't stop or my mom or my grandma from making jokes that are less than funny.

9) Music is magical...

In about 2nd or 3rd grade I started taking piano lessons and I loved them. I was not very good at playing the piano though. I had bad hand-eye coordination and not nearly enough of an attention span to get good. My mother on the other hand is very good. Although I never learned how to play the piano very well, I learned an appreciation for music.

10) ...and so are musicals

My appreciation for music helped foster my appreciation for musicals, but so did my mom. She and my grandmother use to take me to musicals all the time and one year my birthday present was actually tickets to see "Les Miserables" at the PAC. We also watched them all the time at home. To this day going to the theater is one of my favorite things to do.

11) The worst that can happen is someone can say "No"

I'm sure she has actually said this to me many times but what sticks in my head happened when I was about 14 or 15. My mother was about or had just finished her Associate's degree and was looking for a job in her new field. She was looking for jobs online at our dining room table and I very distinctly remember my mother telling me that her academic advisor (counselor) told her to apply for jobs even if she is not qualified because the worst that can happen is they can say "No." This is something I have thought about every time I've applied for anything in the past four or five years. From jobs, to schools, to academic programs, to volunteer positions I have applied for plenty of things I wasn't qualified for because of this.

12) Strong women raise strong women

I can count back at least four generations of strong women in family (that's back to my great-grandma). My mother may not have directly taught me this but she carried on something she had learned from her mom. My mother has raised me to be very strong and I have seen my mother being very strong. This is hands down the most important lesson I have learned.