1. Dating that football player won’t make you cooler.

2. Caking on that makeup doesn’t make you prettier.

3. You have the rest of your life to work. Enjoy the time you don’t have to.

4. Be okay with not knowing exactly who you are.

5. Riding the bus sucks. But you may make some of the best high school memories on it.

6. Chill with the eyeliner.

7. Going to that college party on the weekend won’t get you there any faster.

8. Smoking weed does not make you some type of badass, but it doesn’t make you a delinquent either.

9. Don’t take those weekends without any homework for granted.

10. Getting caught up in that school drama is not worth it.

11. It’s okay to stick to the status quo.

12. It’s also okay to not stick to the status quo.

13. Go to high school dances, as many as you can.

14. You don’t need a date to that dance to have a good time either.

15. Join a club.

16. Listen a little more.

17. Talk a little less.

18. Take advantage of those GPA booster classes.

19. Take your AP classes seriously; it’s the closest thing you can get to college courses.

20. Sex is not THAT great.

21. True friends will be there for you no matter what.

22. Having a small number of close friends is better than being surrounded by a large group of strangers.

23. Eat as much junk food as you can while your metabolism is still high enough.

24. Be confident in your words, thoughts, and actions.

25. Go to sporting events, especially football games on Friday’s. It’s tradition.

26. Get into some trouble.

27. Take a chance.

28. Don’t listen to the haters, they’re just jealous.

29. Failing a math test does not make you a failure at life.

30. You will fall in love again.

31. The mistakes you think you made in high school do not define you for the rest of your life.

32. That rejection letter you got from a college you really loved does not mean you should give up.

33. Get a detention.

34. Cut class.

35. Be into homecoming spirit week. One day you’ll look back and regret if you don’t.

36. Read, because that’s all you do in college classes.

37. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

38. That guy, who you think isn’t attractive in high school will somehow become 100,000 times more attractive in college.

39. Don’t put your problems on social media.

40. Go to that party. You may meet someone new.

41. If he cheats on you, he’s not worth it.

42. Don’t ever say you hate your parents. It cuts a lot deeper than you think.

43. Hang out with your younger siblings. You will blink and they’re all grown up.

44. Call your grandparents. They miss you.

45. Don’t let him push you into anything you’re not comfortable with.

46. Enjoy only going to class until 3:00.

47. That girl in the corner you make fun of, stop. Because she may be going through a lot, the last thing she needs is you making it worse.

48. No one looks good in his or her gym uniform.

49. If you are an athlete, do not be a “gym-tryer” in season. That is a one-way ticket to injury.

50. Don’t be so quick to want to grow up. Being young is great. Enjoy it while you can. Because one day you’ll be a junior in college writing about 50 things she wish she appreciated a lot more than she did in high school.