1. Your ACT score does not define you.

2. Go to every single sporting event-- even if you don't like sports.

3. Tell your teachers you appreciate them.

4. Pray about it.

5. Go to prom. It is not "lame" or "for the preppy kids." You'll always remember it-- whether you go or not.

6. Challenge yourself, and take an AP class or two.

7. Always welcome the new kid because they might just turn out to be your best friend (like mine did).

8. Partying does not make you cool.

9. Going to church does not make you better.

10. There will be some people, no matter how hard you try, that will never like you. Accept that and move on.

11. Taylor Swift was right-- In your life you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team.

12. Your 16 year old self does not know everything. Be open to new ideas.

13. Always say yes when someone asks you to dance. Prom, in class, on a date. Dance.

14. Do your summer assignments the first week of summer. I promise you will hate yourself when you're finishing it the night before school starts.

15. Respect what your classmates are passionate about, even if it's not football.

16. Take advantage of a few senior skip days.

17. Do not gossip about her.

18. When you slip, apologize.

19. Your circle at lunch will not be there forever. Take the time to listen and get to know more than what their favorite side is.

20. Don't subtweet your life.

21. Always participate in pep rallies. You'll have more fun than you think you will.

22. Don't be afraid to make friends outside of "your group."

23. Your teachers know more about their subject and life than you do. Listen.

24. Girls, if he makes you pay for that first date, do not let there be a second.

25. Be nice to the kid everyone else ignores.

26. Realize that you need to forgive and forget, but understand that not everyone will.

27. He is just a boy.

28. I don't care what anyone says, the seat you sit in on the first day is your seat.

29. Roll out of bed that extra five minutes early and stop speeding to school.

30. If you lose the game or don't get the lead, no worries. There will be more.

31. Do not sit on the sinks in the bathroom with all of your friends-- they will break into a million tiny pieces on the floor.

32. A couple B's or C's are not the end of the world.

33. You may not always see eye to eye, but your mom is your best friend.

34. I promise, He has a plan for you. Jeremiah 29:11.

35. No one actually knows how to balance a chemical equation-- you're fine.

36. Finally, stop checking your news feed, and check on your friends.

The rest of your life will be so, so wonderful, but so is high school. No, these are not "the best years of your life," but they are pretty awesome ones. So, cherish them. Make mistakes. Make friends. Make pizza rolls with your BFF's on Friday night after the football game. But more than anything, make memories you'll never forget. This is just the end of a beautiful beginning.